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Retailers and brands have often turned to limited-edition roll outs, product drops, or collaborations to drive traffic – and hopefully incremental sales. But, do these efforts still resonate with shoppers? Are these programs still as meaningful to the retail industry as they once were?
We dove into the data to see how consumers responded to recent high-profile offerings launched this spring by Trader Joe’s and Target.
When thinking about viral product sensations in 2025, it’s hard not to include the mini tote bag from Trader Joe’s. First released in February 2024 and then again September to fan frenzy, the original bags came in bold, classic colorways like red, yellow, blue and green. This spring, Trader Joe’s changed things up with a pastel-handled version – and once again, consumers couldn’t shop the bags fast enough.
The new mini totes debuted in-store on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025, and foot traffic estimates indicate a highly successful launch. Visits to Trader Joe’s were up 21.2% on launch day compared to a year-to-date Tuesday average, making it the busiest Tuesday of the year so far. Foot traffic also outpaced the mini totes’ second run on September 18th by 13.7%. Clearly, mini totes are the key to Trader Joe’s fanatics’ hearts.
The success of the program may stem in part from Trader Joe’s strong appeal to consumer segments heavily influenced by social media. In April 2025, the chain saw a higher penetration among “Educated Urbanites” and “Young Professionals” compared to the wider grocery industry – two groups that would be heavily clued into viral product trends.
Another high-profile product drop this April was Target’s Kate Spade collection, featuring women’s apparel, shoes, accessories, and home goods.
On the surface, Kate Spade seems a perfect fit for Target – the two brands share remarkably similar visitor profiles, primarily attracting affluent, suburban families. Both brands also place a strong emphasis on discretionary offerings – and the overlap in aesthetic and consumer preferences makes sense in today’s retail market.
However, in-store visitation on launch day (Saturday, April 12th) was down 6.8% compared to the release day of 2024’s collaboration with designer Diane Von Furstenberg and down 3.0% compared to the launch day of 2023’s collaboration with Agua Bendita, Rhode, and Fe Noel. Still, traffic was up 14.1% compared to the 2018 Hunter release. And the collection also debuted on Target.com at midnight PST the same day, so in-store traffic may not reflect overall demand.
One positive takeaway from the collaboration? Its ability to draw back affluent suburban shoppers – a key Target audience. In April 2025, the median household income (HHI) of Target’s captured market experienced a minor but significant bump – up to $86.4K, compared to $85.9K in March 2025 and $85.7K in April 2024.
Today’s shoppers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to setting trends, and retailers spend more time courting them than positioning themselves as authorities on what’s “cool.” Against this backdrop, retailers and brands are constantly vying for the next big viral sensation – or for those products or collections that become must-shop phenomena.
As retailers grapple with how to provide value to consumers amidst economic uncertainty, these offerings provide a new incentive for shoppers to visit that isn’t solely focused on price. Consumers may indeed perceive limited runs to be higher quality, more valuable or worth the extra investment. The concept of manufactured scarcity isn’t new in retail, but it continues to take on new forms as the consumer and industry evolve. We may reach a point where exclusivity and scarcity no longer move the needle for retailers, but that doesn’t seem likely in 2025.
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Target's visits shot up over the pandemic – but the chain has struggled to maintain its COVID-era momentum in recent years. Now, the upcoming back-to-school season presents an opportunity for the chain to bring visits back up.
Target's visits shot up between 2020 and 2022 as Americans stuck at home stocked up on everything from home goods to snacks to sporting equipment. But traffic has slowed since mid-2022, and although Target's visit gap has narrowed recently – May '25 visits were down just 1.7% YoY, a significant improvement from February's 9.1% YoY visit gap – year-over-year (YoY) visits were still down for five of the last six months.
Now, the upcoming back-to-school season may present just the opportunity the retailer needs to swing back into visit growth.
August is Target's second-busiest month of the year (the first is December), as the retailer sees visit upticks from everyone from families looking for back-to-school supplies to students getting ready for a new semester and renters switching leases. This seasonal strength offers more than just high traffic volume – it presents a unique comeback opportunity.
And August isn't just one of Target's busiest months – recent August traffic trends have also outperformed the broader twelve-month pattern.
While Target's overall YoY visit gap has widened over the past year (visits dropped 3.0% between June '24 and May '25 compared to the previous 12-month period, versus a smaller 2.2% decline in the prior year comparison), August's YoY visit gap has narrowed. This may suggest that shoppers who've reduced their Target visits throughout the year still prioritize the retailer during back-to-school season.
This creates a strategic window: Target can leverage this seasonal loyalty by enhancing its in-store experience and product selection during summer months, potentially winning back customers who might otherwise shop elsewhere during the rest of the year.
Families – especially middle and high-income families – make up a significant share of Target's captured market throughout the year. August is no exception – almost half (43.2%) of Target's captured market was made up of just four family segments in August '24 (according to Spatial.ai PersonaLive audience segmentation). Still, this is slightly lower than the 43.4% of family segments in Target's captured market between June '24 and May '25 – indicating that Target's August strength extends beyond its traditional family base.
Meanwhile, the share of single segments in Target's captured markets, which stood at 19.6% over the past twelve months, was up to 20.4% in August '24. So the retailer's summer boost is also driven by college students, young professionals, and other single shoppers – and these consumers may be looking for a different product mix and shopping experience than the traditional back-to-school fare.
Families remain Target's largest visitor segment, so the company should continue meeting the needs of this audience by offering a one-stop back-to-school destination along with BOPIS and curbside pickup to accommodate parents' busy lifestyles.
But the company can also make sure its offerings and shopping experience is set up to meet the needs of its Gen Z and millennial visitors when planning its back to school campaigns and in-store set up. Curating a "Singles & Students" section, carrying compact furniture and dorm room essentials, and setting up Instagram-worthy product displays may help these shoppers see Target as their retail home – building loyalty and boosting Target's traffic throughout the year.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Stanford Stadium has hosted numerous major sporting events over the years – from Super Bowl XIX to soccer matches at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and both the 1994 Men’s and 1999 Women’s World Cup. But on May 31st and June 1st, 2025, Coldplay played the first live music event ever held at the venue – part of the band’s “Music of the Spheres” tour – and what a debut it was.
We examined the data to see how attendance spiked during this landmark concert and how the audience compared to the stadium’s usual visitor base.
During the week of May 26th, 2025, when Coldplay took the stage, visits to Stanford Stadium surged by an astonishing 1425.9% compared to the venue’s weekly average since June 2024. Other recent major events – including Stanford commencement (June 16th, 2024), the big Earthquakes vs. Galaxy MLS match (June 29th, 2024), and the Stanford Cardinal’s own home opener against TCU on August 30th, 2024 – all drew much smaller crowds than the Coldplay concert.
Concertgoers came from far and wide to see Coldplay in action. Plenty of locals attended, including 15.1% who came from less than five miles away. But nearly one-fifth of visitors journeyed more than 100 miles to enjoy the music – a testament to the band’s strong draw.
To understand how the Coldplay concert impacted Stanford Stadium’s visitor profile, we compared the psychographics of Stanford Stadium’s captured market during the 2024 football season (August 24th to December 1st, 2024) to those during the Coldplay concert.
Across both analyzed periods, Stanford Stadium attracted higher-than-average shares of Spatial.ai: PersonaLive’s “Ultra Wealthy Families,” “Educated Urbanites,” and “Young Professionals” segment groups. However, the concert’s audience skewed more toward “Ultra Wealthy Families,” whereas football fans were nearly twice as likely to be “Young Professionals” and slightly more likely to be “Educated Urbanites”. “Near-Urban Diverse Families” and “Wealthy Suburban Families” were underrepresented in the stadium’s market during both periods, though they both constituted a slightly higher share during the Coldplay concert – further underscoring the event’s power to attract different audiences than usual.
As universities navigate the changing nature of college athletics, NIL rights, and shifting revenue streams, using a football stadium as a concert venue is a creative way to utilize the space and bring in some dollars – as well as joy to both students and other visitors. Is this milestone event a precursor to more major cultural happenings at the Bay Area stadium?
For more data-driven live event analyses, follow The Anchor.
Nike has recently pivoted away from its "Consumer Direct Acceleration" strategy in favor of a more multi-channel distribution approach. What does the data say about this shift? We dove into traffic numbers and audience composition metrics to find out.
In 2020, Nike introduced its "Consumer Direct Acceleration" strategy that had aimed to expedite the company's DTC pivot in an effort to regain control of the brand and own the customer relationship directly. But the emphasis on owned channels did not yield the desired results – in fact, the move away from wholesale may have helped smaller sneaker companies take over shelf space and market share from the legacy sportswear brand.
In mid-2023, Nike shifted to a more balanced, multi-channel approach, and by late 2023, Nike was once again selling its products through retail partners such as DSW and Macy's. More recently, in May 2025, Nike announced that it would be resuming direct sales on Amazon – a channel the brand exited in 2019 – in an effort to reach customers where they shop.
Diving into year-over-year monthly traffic numbers for Nike stores nationwide underscores the merits of the recent strategic shift. Visits to Nike stores have been trending negative for eight months straight, validating the recent company-wide pivot back towards a more holistic, multi-channel approach.
Using Spatial.ai PersonaLive data to compare the audience composition in Nike's captured market with the audience composition in some captured markets of some of its largest retail partners further highlights the advantages of Nike's new multi-channel approach.
The data shows that Nike already does a great job of reaching "Ultra Wealthy Families," "Young Professionals," and "Educated Urbanites" through its owned stores – the share of these segments in Nike's trade area is larger than in the trade areas of any of its main partners. But both DSW and DICK's Sporting Goods reach more suburban families than Nike, with a larger share of "Wealthy Suburban Families" and "Upper Suburban Diverse Families" in their trade areas than in Nike's. And Macy's and Foot Locker seem to be better positioned to reach "Near-Urban Diverse Families" and "Young Urban Singles".
The distinct audience composition of each retail partner suggests that a varied wholesale approach is necessary to achieve comprehensive market coverage, allowing Nike to reach a far broader spectrum of consumers than its own stores can capture alone.
Nike's return to a multi-channel approach suggests that achieving comprehensive market coverage requires a balanced strategy, leveraging partners to engage with a broader spectrum of consumers in addition to building out owned DTC channels.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
In today’s challenging dining market, restaurants are battling for consumer attention through special deals, limited time offers (LTOs), and pop-culture collaborations. We dove into the data to see how several special recent events at Chipotle, IHOP, and Jack in the Box helped drive visits to these chains.
Earlier this year, Chipotle leaned into the Stanley Cup excitement with an LTO designed especially for hockey fans. On Monday, April 21st, 2025 – just two days after the start of Round 1 playoffs – Chipotle offered one of its classic BOGO (buy one get one free) deals for anyone wearing a hockey jersey who dined at a participating location after 3:00 PM.
Nationwide, the promotion sparked a substantial 34.4% visit boost during the hours of the offer compared to an average Monday. But in Minneapolis-St. Paul, at the heart of the so-called “State of Hockey”, visits surged by an astonishing 77.3% – the most seen in any metro area throughout the U.S. – underscoring just how impactful relevant LTOs can be in the right market.
It’s no secret that everybody loves free stuff. But another recent LTO shows that people also embrace the chance to do good. On March 4th, 2025, hungry diners flocked to IHOP restaurants nationwide to snag free pancakes – no purchase required! – at participating locations. The promotion, part of the chain’s month-long charitable drive, encouraged guests to donate to Feeding America.
IHOP’s promotion spurred visit increases across the country. But it struck a particular chord in certain northeastern markets – especially in New Jersey, where a local franchise owner’s interviews about the event’s charitable aspect helped motivate a remarkable 142.5% visit spike. And on the West Coast, particularly in California, the promotion’s success was supported by the chain’s “20k for Pancake Day” event in Santa Monica, held on March 1, 2025 to raise money for Feeding America, which garnered substantial media coverage.
But freebies aren’t the only way to drive traffic. On May 29th, 2025, Jack in the Box created plenty of buzz with the launch of its late-night T-Pain Munchie Meal, available after 9:00 PM. By the week of June 2nd, hungry night owls were flocking to Jack in the Box in droves, driving substantial increases in late-night traffic.
The late-night offer increased the proportion of nighttime visits to 25.1% during the week of June 2nd, compared to a 12-month average of 23.0%. The largest nighttime visit increase came on Thursday, June 5th, likely due to excitement for T-Pain’s June 6 debut in “Jack Zone Wars,” a custom in-game Fortnite world built specifically for this collaboration. And with T-Pain’s June 26th live-stream Fortnite event still ahead, momentum will likely continue to build as the month wears on.
These recent promotions at Chipotle, IHOP, and Jack in the Box highlight the power of well-timed, relevant LTOs to create excitement and boost traffic. By tapping into local cultural trends, charitable causes, and pop-culture collaborations, restaurants can stay top of mind – even in a crowded dining market.
For more data-driven dining insights follow The Anchor.
Since its emergence from bankruptcy in late 2020, JCPenney has been on a slow and steady comeback trajectory. Last year, the company continued closing underperforming stores and revamped its loyalty program, which helped it achieve a year-over-year (YoY) visit gap of just 3.0% and a YoY gap in average visits per location of just 1.8% in Q4 2024.
Part of last year's success was likely also due to the company's investments in major promotional efforts – and now JCPenney is back in the advertising game with its new "Yes, JCPenney" national ad campaign. We dove into the data to see how these marketing efforts are bearing fruit.
Although JCPenney has been gradually improving its metrics, the chain generally underperformed the department store category for most of 2024 – until traffic turned around in October and November 2024, at the height of the brand's "Really Big Deals Reveals" campaign. Visits to JCPenney then declined below the category average again, with the chain underperforming the category between December 2024 and March 2025 – with the exception of February, when the chain's "Petite Power List" campaign may have temporarily boosted visits.
But recently, the company launched a major nationwide campaign titled "Yes, JCPenney," with the goal of challenging and overcoming outdated consumer perceptions of the brand. The ads started running in April 2025, and traffic to the chain picked up significantly – with year-over-year (YoY) visits to JCPenney up 0.7% and 3.0% in April and May 2025, respectively.
Diving into May 2025 YoY traffic to the chain by DMA indicates that the "Yes, JCPenney" has been met with broad success, with the chain seeing visit strength across the country. The visit increases were especially notable in the South and Midwest – with DMAs in South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Texas seeing major lifts – suggesting that the focus on style and value connected deeply with consumers in these regions.
Diving into the recent audience shifts at JCPenney suggests that part of the campaign's success may be attributed to its resonance with single shoppers. Using the Experian: Mosaic dataset reveals that nationwide, the share of "Singles and Starters" in JCPenney's captured market edged up slightly from 11.2% in May 2024 to 11.3% in May 2025, while the share of "Significant Singles" rose from 4.4% to 4.7%.
And though these nationwide shifts are relatively small ones, in some DMAs where JCPenney saw a particularly notable YoY visit increase, the share of singles in the chain’s trade area increased more significantly. For example, May YoY data shows that JCPenney visits in New York, NY, increased by 9.8%, while the share of "Significant Singles" grew from 22.7% to 26.1%. And in Tyler-Longview, TX, visits increased 18.0% YoY in May 2025 while the share of "Singles and Starters" rose from 12.8% to 14.0% in the same period.
JCPenney's success in increasing its resonance with single consumers – who are likely younger, and who may be less familiar with the legacy brand – suggests that the "Yes, JCPenney" campaign may be attracting a new generation of shoppers to the chain.
The initial surge in May 2025 foot traffic, particularly among younger, single shoppers, is quite promising. Will the company succeed in converting shoppers brought in through the "Yes, JCPenney" campaign into sustained visitors and loyal customers?
Keep up with The Anchor to find out.
1. The Midwest is the only region where Black Friday retail visits outpace Super Saturday.
But several major Midwestern markets, including Chicago and Detroit, actually see higher shopper turnout on Super Saturday.
2. Holiday season demographic shifts also vary across regions.
Nationwide, electronics stores see a slight uptick in median household income (HHI) in December – yet in certain markets, electronics retailers such as Best Buy see a drop in captured market median HHI during this period.
3. Back-to-school shopping starts earliest for clothing and office supplies retailers in the South Central region, likely tied to earlier school schedules.
But back-to-school visits surge higher for these retailers in the Northeast later in the season.
4. The share of college students among back-to-school shoppers varies by region.
In August 2024, “Collegians” made up the largest share of Target’s back-to-school shopping crowd in New England, and the smallest in the West.
5. Mother’s Day drives the biggest restaurant visit spikes in the Middle Atlantic Region, while Father’s Day sees its biggest boosts in the South Atlantic states.
Mother’s Day diners also tend to travel farther to celebrate, suggesting an extra effort to treat mom.
6. Western states proved particularly responsive to McDonald’s recent Minecraft promotion.
During the week of A Minecraft Movie’s release, the promotion drove significantly higher visit spikes in the West than in the Eastern U.S.
Retailers rely on promotional events to fuel sales – from classics like Black Friday and back-to-school sales to unique limited-time offers (LTOs) and pop-culture collaborations. Yet consumer preferences and behavior can vary significantly by region, making it critical to tailor campaigns to local markets.
This report dives into the data to reveal how consumers in 2025 are responding to major retail promotions, exploring both broad regional trends and more localized market-level nuances. Where is Black Friday most popular, and which areas see a bigger turnout on Super Saturday? Where are restaurants most packed on Mother’s Day, and where on Father’s Day? Which region kicks off back-to-school shopping – and where are August shoppers most likely to be college students? And also – which part of the country went all out on McDonald’s recent Minecraft LTO?
Read on to find out.
Promotions aimed at boosting foot traffic on key holiday season milestones like Black Friday and Super Saturday are central to retailers’ strategies across industries. The day after Thanksgiving and the Saturday before Christmas typically rank among in-store retail’s busiest days, last year generating foot traffic surges of 50.1% and 56.3%, respectively, compared to a 12-month daily average. And
But a closer look at regional data shows that these promotions land differently across the country. In the Midwest, Black Friday outperformed Super Saturday last year, fueling the nation’s biggest post-Thanksgiving retail visit spike – a testament to the milestone’s strong local appeal. Meanwhile, in the Western U.S. Black Friday trailed well behind Super Saturday, though both milestones drove smaller upticks than in other regions. And in New England and the South Central states, Super Saturday achieved its biggest impact, suggesting that last-minute holiday specials may resonate especially well in that area.
Digging deeper into major Midwestern hubs shows that even within a single region, holiday promotions can produce widely different responses.
In St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis, for example, consumers followed the broader Midwestern pattern, flocking to stores on Black Friday exhibiting less enthusiasm for Super Saturday deals. By contrast, Chicago and Detroit saw Super Saturday edge ahead, with Chicago’s Black Friday peak falling below the nationwide average of 50.1%. examples highlight the power of local preferences to shape holiday campaign results.
Holiday promotions don’t just drive visit spikes; they also spark subtle but significant changes in the demographic profiles of brick-and-mortar shoppers, expanding many retailers’ audiences during peak periods. And these shifts, too, can vary widely across regions.
Outlet malls, department stores, and beauty & self-care chains, for instance, which typically attract higher-income consumers, tend to see slight declines in the median household incomes (HHI) of their visitor bases in December. This dip may be due to promotions drawing in more mid- and lower-income shoppers during the peak holiday season. Electronics stores and superstores, on the other hand, which generally serve a less affluent base, see modest upticks in median HHI in the lead-up to Christmas.
But once again, drilling further down into regional chain-level data reveals more nuanced regional patterns. Take Best Buy, a leading holiday season electronics destination. In some of the chain’s biggest, more affluent markets – including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago – the big-box retailer sees small dips in median HHI during December. But in Atlanta and Houston – also relatively affluent, but slightly less so – December saw a minor HHI uptick, hinting at a stronger holiday rush from higher-income shoppers in those cities.
Back-to-school promotions also play a pivotal role in the retail calendar, with superstores, apparel chains, office supply stores and others all vying for shopper attention. And though summer markdowns drive increased foot traffic nationwide, both the timing of these shifts and the composition of the back-to-school shopping crowd differ among regions.
Analyzing weekly fluctuations in regional foot traffic to clothing and office supplies stores shows, for example, that back-to-school shopping picks up earliest in the South Central region, likely due to earlier school start dates.
But the biggest visit peaks occur in the Northeast – with clothing retailer foot traffic surging in New England in late August, and office supplies stores seeing an even bigger surge in the Middle Atlantic region in early September. Retailers and advertisers can plan their back-to-school deals around these differences, targeting promotions to local trends.
Though K-12 families drive much of the back-to-school rush, college student shoppers also play a substantial role. And here, too, their participation varies by region.
For instance, the “Collegians” segment accounted for 2.2% of Target’s shopper base nationwide over the past year – rising to 3.0% in August 2024. But regionally, the share of “Collegians” soared as high as 4.0% in New England versus just 2.2% in the West. So while retailers in New England may choose to lean into the college vibe, those in Western states may place greater emphasis on families with children.
When it comes to dining, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are the busiest days of the year for the full-service restaurant (FSR) category, as families treat their parents to a hassle-free meal out. And eateries nationwide capitalize on this trend by offering a variety of deals and promotions that add a little extra charm (and value) to the experience.
Nationwide, Mother’s Day drives more FSR foot traffic than Father’s Day – except in parts of the Pacific Northwest, where Father’s Day traditions run especially deep. Still, the size of these holiday boosts varies substantially by region.
This year, for instance, Mother’s Day (May 11, 2025) drove the largest FSR surge in the Middle Atlantic, with the South Atlantic and Midwest not far behind. Father’s Day, by contrast, saw its biggest lift in the South Atlantic. Mother’s Day proved least resonant in the West, whereas Father’s Day had its smallest impact in New England.
Dining behavior also differs between the two occasions. Mother’s Day celebrants display a slight preference for morning FSR visits and a bigger one for afternoon visits, while Father’s Day crowds favor evenings – perhaps reflecting a preference for sports bars and later dinners with dad. Another interesting nuance: On Mother’s Day, a larger share of FSR visits originate from between 3 and 50 miles away compared to Father’s Day, suggesting that families go the extra mile – sometimes literally – to celebrate mom.
While established dates like Black Friday or Mother’s Day naturally spur promotions, brands can also craft their own moments with limited-time offers (LTOs). And much like holiday campaigns, these retailer-led events can produce varied outcomes across different regions.
Fast food restaurants, for example, have leaned heavily on limited-time offers (LTOs) and pop-culture tie-ins to fuel buzz in what remains a challenging overall market. And McDonald’s recent Minecraft promotion, launched on April 1, 2025 to coincide with the April 3 release of A Minecraft Move, shows just how impactful the practice can be.
Nationally, the Minecraft promotion (featuring offerings for both kids and adults) drove a 6.9% lift in visits during the movie’s opening week. But the impact of the promotion was far from uniform across the U.S. Many of McDonald’s Western markets – including Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon – recorded visit lifts above 10.0%. Meanwhile, Kentucky saw a 2.1% dip, and several other Eastern states registered modest gains below 3.0%. The McDonald’s example illustrates the power of regional tastes to shape the success of even the most creative pop-culture collabs.
Whether it’s properly timing holiday and back-to-school discounts, recognizing where Mother’s Day or Father’s Day will resonate more, or pinpointing markets that respond best to pop-culture tie-ins, the data reveals that effective promotions depend heavily on local nuances. And by analyzing regional and DMA-level trends, retailers and advertisers can craft compelling, relevant campaigns that heighten engagement where it matters most.
1. Experiential and niche retailers can deliver anchor-level traffic. At Towne East Square Mall, the addition of a Scheels in 2023 significantly increased foot traffic and long-distance travelers, while Barnes & Noble at Coronado Center in Albuquerque has become a key driver of both foot traffic and higher-spend demographics.
2. Size isn’t everything – especially for dining venues. At Glendale Galleria and Northridge Fashion Center, smaller restaurants attracted more foot traffic than some traditional anchors.
3. Refocusing on tenants’ actual traffic contributions enables a flexible anchor approach. Balancing weekend draws like Scheels with weekday favorites such as Costco or Chick-fil-A can help maintain steady visitor flow throughout the week. Similarly, onsite fitness clubs can shift traffic to earlier in the day – an opportunity to adjust store hours and capture additional morning shoppers.
4. Temporary pop-ups can form an integral part of a visit-focused anchor strategy. The Barbie Dreamhouse Living Truck Tour generates mall visit spikes well above typical Saturday levels. Operators can integrate these events into their overall anchor strategies, offering preferential terms to high-performing pop-ups.
5. New tenants can boost traffic for existing stores in similar categories. After Aldi joined Green Acres Commons in February 2020, visits to an existing BJ’s Wholesale Club trended upwards. This synergy highlights how overlapping audiences can become a strength, creating a larger overall customer base.
Malls, it seems, are cool once again. After languishing in the wake of the pandemic, shopping centers across the country are thriving – reinventing themselves as prime “third places” where people can hang out, shop, and grab a bite to eat.
One key driver behind this resurgence is a shift in how malls view their anchor tenants. While traditional mainstays like Macy’s and JCPenney still play an important role, specialized offerings – from popular eateries to fitness centers and immersive retailtainment destinations – are increasingly taking center stage. These attractions maximize the experiential value that brick-and-mortar venues can deliver, driving visits and sales for the center as a whole.
Against this backdrop, this report leverages the latest location intelligence data to explore the types of tenants that can function as mall anchors in 2025. Should mall operators still focus on general merchandisers to draw crowds, or can dining chains and more niche retailers also do the job? How important is square footage in identifying the anchor-like tenants in a shopping center? And how can a visit-focused approach help mall operators select effective anchor or anchor-like tenants – whether to fill big-box spaces or to leverage the leasing perks traditionally reserved for major large-format chains?
One of the most important functions of a mall anchor is to ensure steady visitation – providing its smaller tenants with a constant flow of potential customers. And as the role of the mall continues to evolve, analyzing the actual foot traffic impacts of different types of businesses can help identify the kinds of non-traditional anchors best suited to fulfill that purpose.
Experiential venues, for example, are particularly well-poised to serve as powerful anchors in today’s retail environment – as illustrated by the visit surge experienced by Towne East Square Mall in Wichita, KS following the addition of a Scheels in July 2023.
By blending traditional retail with immersive experiences, Scheels has emerged as a true experiential destination. And this pull has also helped the mall draw more long-distance visitors willing to travel to enjoy Scheels’ offerings. In 2024, 41.9% of the mall’s customers traveled more than 50 miles to visit, compared to 35.8% back in 2018 when Sears occupied the same lot.
Traditionally, anchors aimed to please the widest possible audiences – with department stores, big-box chains, and grocery stores leading the way. But visitation data shows that niche concepts can also deliver anchor-level traffic if they’re compelling enough to attract dedicated fans.
The experience of the Barnes & Noble at Coronado Center in Albuquerque, NM is a case in point. After being written off as all but obsolete, Barnes & Noble has staged an impressive comeback in recent years, finding success through a more curated, localized approach to book selling. And despite not being a formal anchor, the Coronado Center Barnes & Noble accounted for 7.9% of visits to the mall in 2024 – outperforming both Macy’s and JCPenney.
Year-over-year data also shows foot traffic surging at the Coronado Center Barnes & Noble, lifting overall visitation to the mall. And demographic data reveals that the bookstore draws a more affluent audience than either the center as a whole or the two department stores – attracting a crowd with more spending power.
This example also illustrates how smaller tenants can sometimes draw larger crowds. Even though Barnes & Noble occupies a smaller onsite space than either Macy’s or JCPenney, it is proving a powerful visit driver out of proportion to its physical size.
Dining chains are also adept at punching above their square footage – often attracting crowds disproportionate to their size.
Despite its relatively small footprint, for example, the In-N-Out Burger at Glendale Galleria drew an impressive 8.6% of visits to the mall complex in 2024, outpacing some of the mall’s official anchors like DICK’s Sporting Goods, Macy’s, and JCPenney. Still, the onsite Target drew even larger crowds at 14.4% of visits.
A similar pattern emerged at Northridge Fashion Center, where Porto’s Bakery and Cafe captured a notable 15.6% of visits to the complex in 2024 – more than some of the center’s traditional department stores.
These examples underscore the potential for dining chains, which typically require less space, to serve as micro-anchors by consistently attracting outsized crowds – a key consideration for mall operators looking to sustain visitor traffic.
Refocusing on tenants’ actual foot traffic contributions also opens the door to a more flexible and dynamic approach to anchor selection and management – one that considers each venue’s unique visitation patterns.
Seasonal factors, for example, can make certain anchors more powerful at specific times of the year, while different venues shine on particular days of the week.
At Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, Iowa, for instance, Scheels and Costco each delivered just under 20.0% of the complex’s overall visits in 2024. But the two retailers’ daily patterns differed significantly: Scheels saw bigger crowds on weekends, while Costco was the primary weekday destination.
Understanding differences like these can help operators optimize their tenant mix to maintain a balanced flow of shoppers throughout the week.
Another example of the impact of differing weekday traffic patterns is offered by the impact of mall-based Chick-fil-A locations on the distribution of mall visits throughout the week.
Despite its relatively small size, Chick-fil-A draws substantial traffic to malls. And after adding Chick-fil-A locations, both Northridge and Miller Hill Malls saw meaningful drops in the share of visits to the centers taking place on Sundays – even as the wider indoor mall segment saw slight upticks.
Recognizing this trend could prompt mall operators to compensate by adding more weekend-friendly traffic drivers – or to lean into this distinction by taking additional steps to bolster the mall’s role as a go-to weekday destination.
The power of different mall traffic magnets also varies throughout the day. Increasingly, shopping centers are turning to fitness centers as experiential anchors. And since many people work out early in the morning, these gyms are having a significant impact on the distribution of mall visits across dayparts.
The addition of gyms to Northshore Mall in Peabody, MA and Jackson Crossing in Jackson, MI, for instance, led to a significant rise in visits between 7:00 AM and noon. And though the rest of the stores in these malls typically open at 10:00 or 11:00 AM, this shift presents the centers with a significant opportunity.
By adjusting opening hours to accommodate these early-morning patrons, malls can capitalize on this added traffic, driving up visits and sales for relevant tenants – especially health-focused retailers such as juice bars and sporting goods stores.
Adopting a broader, visit-focused view of anchoring also allows mall operators to apply some of the strategies typically reserved for anchors to non-conventional traffic-generating businesses, to ensure a consistent flow of traffic year-round.
Pop-up stores and events, for example, generally don’t follow the same seasonal trends as other retailers – instead, they generate short-term visit boosts during their runs, whenever in the year that may be. And a visit-focused anchor strategy can leverage some of the perks traditionally reserved for anchor tenants – such as preferential leasing terms – to complement traditional full-time anchors during slower retail periods.
The Barbie Dreamhouse Living Truck Tour is a prime example of a traffic-driving pop-up. By bringing exclusive merchandise to malls across the U.S., the truck generates plenty of buzz, drawing crowds eager to snatch up limited-edition items and immerse themselves in all things Barbie. As a result, malls hosting the tour often see significant visit spikes, with foot traffic surging well above typical Saturday levels. Well-timed pop-ups like these can help balance out traffic throughout the year, offsetting traditional slow periods.
A visit-focused approach to anchor management can also help mall operators assess the potential impact of new tenants on existing stores operating in similar categories. For example, mall owners often worry that new tenants operating in similar categories might cannibalize existing businesses. But a visit-focused anchor approach reveals that a well-chosen addition can sometimes benefit current tenants – especially if they cater to similar audiences.
In February 2020, for instance, value supermarket Aldi opened at Green Acres Commons in Valley Stream, NY – a center that already hosted budget-friendly BJ’s Wholesale Club. While BJ’s visits were relatively flat in 2018 and 2019, they began to rise after Aldi’s opening (and following a pandemic-induced dip). Cross-shopping data also shows that Aldi customers were more likely to visit BJ’s than the average Green Acres patron last year.
This synergy may be due in part to the two retailers’ similar visitor bases: In 2024, the Aldi and BJ’s stores in Green Acres Common drew shoppers with comparable economic profiles. This suggests that overlapping audiences can become a strength if aligned brands attract new shoppers, who then explore multiple stores in the same center.
Looking ahead, effective mall anchors will be defined less by physical footprint and more by their capacity to maintain consistent, valuable foot traffic. While traditional department stores remain pivotal, smaller or niche brands can often rival – or surpass – large-format retailers. And by thinking out of the anchor box and choosing tenants that cultivate a balanced visitor flow and align with local preferences, operators can position their centers as true go-to destinations.
1. Shoppers are taking more, shorter trips to grocery stores. Over the past 12 months, grocery stores have experienced nearly uniform YoY visit growth. And since COVID, the segment has steadily increased both overall visits and average visits per location – even as average dwell times have consistently declined.
2. Grocery stores are holding ground against fierce competition. Despite growing inroads by discount and dollar stores, wholesale clubs, and general mass retailers like Walmart and Target, grocery stores have maintained their share of the overall food-at-home visit pie over the past several years.
3. Grocery visit share is most pronounced on the coasts. In Q1 2025, grocery stores claimed the majority of food-at-home visits on the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain Regions, and in Florida and Michigan.
4. Fresh-format, value, and ethnic grocery visit shares are growing at the expense of traditional chains. And in Q1 2025, fresh-format and value grocers outperformed the other sub-segments with positive YoY visit and average visit-per-location growth.
5. Hispanic markets are on the rise. Though the broader ethnic grocery sub-segment was essentially flat YoY in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused stores recorded increases in both visits and visits per location – and have been steadily growing visits since 2021.
6. Smaller formats for the win. In Q1 2025, smaller-format grocery store locations outpaced mid-sized and larger-format ones, underscoring the power of compact spaces to deliver significant foot traffic gains.
Brick-and-mortar grocery stores face an uncertain market in 2025. Rising food-at-home prices (eggs, anyone?), declining consumer confidence, and increased competition from discounters, superstores, and online shopping channels all present the segment with significant headwinds. Yet even in the face of these challenges, the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience – growing its foot traffic and holding onto visit share.
What strategies have helped the segment navigate today’s tough market? And how can industry stakeholders make the most of the opportunities in the current market? This report draws on the latest location intelligence to uncover the trends shaping grocery retail in early 2025 – highlighting insights to help key players make informed, data-driven decisions on store formats, product offerings, and more.
The grocery segment has experienced nearly uniform positive year-over-year (YoY) growth over the last 12 months. This sustained performance in the face of inflation and other headwinds highlights the underlying strength of the category.
What is driving this growth? Since 2022, the grocery segment has seen consistent overall visit growth that has outpaced increases in visits per location – a sign that chain expansion has played a key role in the category’s success. But the average number of visits to each grocery store has also been on the rise, indicating that the segment continues to expand without cannibalizing existing store traffic.
At the same time, visitor dwell times have been steadily dropping since 2021. This shift appears to reflect a trend towards multiple, shorter trips by inflation-wary consumers eager to avoid large, costly carts or cherry pick deals across various retailers. Many shoppers may also be placing more bulk orders online and supplementing those deliveries with brief in-store stops for additional items as needed.
The bottom line: Shoppers are taking more grocery trips overall each year, but spending less time in-store during each visit. Operators can respond to this trend by optimizing layouts and promoting “grab-and-go” areas for an even more efficient quick-trip experience.
Visit share data also shows that despite fierce competition from discount and dollar stores, wholesalers, and general mass retailers, the grocery segment has steadfastly preserved its share of the overall food-at-home visit pie.
Between Q1 2019 and Q1 2025, wholesale clubs and discount and dollar stores increased their share of total food-at-home visits, gains that have come primarily at the expense of Walmart and Target. Meanwhile, grocery outlets have held firm – despite some fluctuations over the years, their Q1 2019 visit share remained essentially unchanged in Q1 2025.
So even as consumers flock to alternative food purveyors in search of lower prices, grocery stores aren’t losing ground – and on a nationwide level, they remain the biggest player by far in the food-at-home shopping space.
Still, grocery store visit share varies significantly by region. On the West Coast, in parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain regions, and in Florida and Michigan, grocery stores accounted for the majority of food-at-home visits in Q1 2025. Oregon (61.6%) and Washington (59.6%) led the pack, followed by Massachusetts (59.2%), Vermont (58.5%), and California (57.9%). Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Mississippi, less than 30% of food-at-home traffic went to grocery stores, with more shoppers in these regions turning to general mass retailers or discounters.
Grocery store operators in lower-grocery-share regions may choose to focus on price competitiveness and convenient store locations to capture more foot traffic from competitors in the space.
Which types of grocery stores are thriving the most? The grocery segment is diverse, encompassing traditional grocery chains like Kroger, Safeway, and H-E-B; budget-oriented value chains such as Aldi, WinCo Foods, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, and Market Basket; fresh-format specialty brands like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Sprouts Farmers Market; and numerous ethnic grocers.
Examining shifts in visit share among these various grocery store segments shows that traditional grocery still dominates, commanding over 70.0% of total grocery store foot traffic.
Still, over the past several years, traditional grocers have gradually ceded ground to other segments – especially value chains. Budget grocers saw a temporary surge in visits during the panic-buying days of early 2020 – and have been more gradually gaining visit share since Q1 2023. . Fresh-format banners, which lost ground in 2021 after a Q1 2020 bump, in the wake of COVID, have also been on the upswing and appear poised to capture additional visit share in the coming months and years. And though ethnic grocers still account for a relatively small portion of the overall market, they have slightly increased their visit share, reflecting heightened consumer interest in these specialized offerings.
Recent performance metrics point to a bifurcation in the grocery market similar to that observed in other retail categories. In Q1 2025, fresh-format and value retailers – which appeal, respectively, to the most and least affluent visitor bases – saw the greatest growth in both overall visits and average visits per location.
This trend highlights the power of both value and health-focused quality to motivate consumers in 2025. And grocery players that can meet these needs will be well-positioned for success in the months ahead.
One factor fueling fresh-format’s success may be its role as a convenient, relatively affordable midday lunch destination for the remote work crowd.
In Q1 2025, consumers working from home accounted for 20.2% of fresh-format grocery stores’ captured market – a significantly higher share than any other analyzed grocery segment. These stores also tended to be busier midday than the other segments. Remote workers may be stopping by to grab a quick bite – and some may be choosing to do their grocery shopping during their lunch break when stores are less crowded.
This finding suggests an opportunity for grocery operators across all segments to develop or enhance in-store salad bars and quick-serve sections to tap into the lunch rush. Likewise, CPG companies may benefit from developing more ready-made, nutritious meal options that align with these midday dining habits.
Though the broader ethnic grocery category remained essentially flat in Q1 2025, Hispanic-focused grocers emerged as a sub-segment to watch. Both overall visits and average visits per location to these stores have been on the rise since 2021.
This robust demand presents an opportunity for CPG brands and grocers across segments to expand Hispanic-focused offerings, capturing a slice of this growing market.
Finally, store size matters more than ever in 2025. During the first quarter of the year, smaller format grocery store locations (locations under 30K square feet, across different chains) outpaced larger stores with a 3.2% YoY jump in visits, showing that bigger isn’t always better in the grocery store space.
This pattern aligns with the decrease in dwell times noted above – shoppers may be making shorter trips to smaller, more convenient grocery store locations. These quick errands are ideal for picking up a few items to supplement online orders, shopping multiple deals, or sourcing specialty products unavailable at larger grocery destinations. And to lean into this trend, grocery operators might consider testing neighborhood “micro-store” concepts, focusing on curated selections, and offering convenient parking or pickup to match consumer preferences for targeted purchases and quicker trips.
Location intelligence reveals a growing, dynamic grocery landscape which is holding its ground in the face of increased competition. Shorter trips, busier lifestyles, and changing work routines are reshaping in-store experiences. And grocery players that refine their store formats, target both lunch and on-the-go shoppers, and adapt to shifting demographics can position themselves to thrive in this competitive sector. As the market continues to evolve, continuous attention to these changing patterns will be key to maintaining and expanding market share.
