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In December 2023, Placer.ai released the white paper: The Retail Opportunity of Stadiums. Below is a taste of our findings. To read more data-driven consumer research, visit our resource library.
While every stadium provides a similar core of traditional game day eats, each venue also offers a unique set of dining options, both on- and off-premise. The visitor bases of the various venues also exhibit unique dining tastes – a reminder that no customer or fan base is alike. Aligning on- or off-site dining options with offerings that align with a given customer base’s preferences can improve overall visitor satisfaction and boost revenues.
The chart below shows the share of visitors coming to a stadium from a dining venue (on the x-axis) or going to a dining venue after visiting the stadium (on the y-axis). The data reveals a correlation between pre-stadium dining and post-stadium dining – stadiums where many guests visit dining venues before the stadium also tend to have a large share of guests going to dining venues after the event. For example, the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, saw large shares of visitors grabbing a bite to eat on their journey to or from the stadium, while the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland saw low rates of pre- and post stadium dining engagement.
These trends present opportunities for both local businesses and stadium stakeholders. For example, venues with high dining engagement can explore partnerships with local restaurants, while those with lower rates can build out their in-house dining options for hungry sports fans.
Stadiums looking to enhance their food offerings – or local entrepreneurs thinking of opening a restaurant near a stadium – can also get inspired by stadium visitors’ dining preferences. For example, psychographic data taken from the Spatial.ai: FollowGraph dataset reveals that visitors to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey have a much stronger preference for Asian cuisine compared to New Jersey residents overall. With that knowledge, the stadium can enhance the visitor experience by expanding its Asian food offerings.
On the other hand, MetLife Stadium goers seem much less partial to Brewery fare than average New Jerseyans, so the stadium operators and restaurateurs may want to avoid offering too many Brewery-themed dining options. Stadium stakeholders can reserve the craft beers for Caesars Stadium, M&T Bank Stadium, and Soldier Field Stadiums, where visitors seem to enjoy artisanal brews more than the average resident in Louisiana, Maryland, and Illinois, respectively.
Sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB boast billion-dollar revenues – and the venues where these games unfold hold significant commercial potential in their own rights. Stadium operators, restaurateurs, and other stakeholders can leverage location intelligence and analyze visitor behavior outside the stadiums to understand visit patterns and consumer preferences during games and in the off-season.
Read the full report here to discover more stadium insights. For more data-driven consumer research, visit our resource library.
Urban Outfitters, Inc., operates several apparel banners, including Anthropologie and the eponymous Urban Outfitters. Both brands sell bohemian-style women’s apparel and home goods, although Urban Outfitters’ selection is slightly more eclectic and also includes menswear. Location intelligence indicates that both brands have stores in areas that have the potential to attract similar types of shoppers – but in practice, the two chains’ audiences look rather different.
To better understand the contrast between the two chains, we dove into the demographic and psychographic data of Urban Outfitters’ and Anthropologie’s trade areas.
Location analytics can be used to analyze a chain’s area through two different methods. The potential market trade area focuses on the demographic and psychographic makeup of the Census Block Groups (CBGs) making up the trade area, with each CBG weighted according to the population size of that CBG. The captured market trade area, on the other hand, weighs the CBGs within the trade area according to the number of visits received by the chain from each CBG. So while a potential market analysis can show the types of visitors that a chain can reach on the basis of the geographic location of the chain’s venues, the captured market reveals the audience segments within the potential trade area that actually visit the chain in practice.
For example, the median HHI for both Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters is higher in the captured market than in the potential market. This means that both brands attract visits from the higher-income households within their potential trade area.
The data also indicates that both chains have a relatively similar potential market median HHI, so both chains can reach customers with relatively similar income levels, given their store fleet configuration: Anthropologie’s potential market median HHI is only 5.5% higher than Urban Outfitters’ ($84.7K vs. $80.3K). But in practice, Anthropologie visitors tend to come from much more affluent households than Urban Outfitters visitors, with Anthropologie’s captured market median HHI 17.3% higher than Urban Outfitters’ ($103.6K vs. $88.3K).
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Looking at the household types in Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters’ potential markets reinforces how the two chains have the potential to draw a relatively similar visitor base. Anthropologie’s and Urban Outfitters’ potential trade areas have 38.5% and 38.8% of one-person and non-family (i.e. roommate) households, respectively, and 26.6% and 26.5% of households with children.
In practice, however, Anthropologie tends to attract more households than Urban Outfitters from family-friendly neighborhoods – the share of households with children in its captured market stands at 26.3%, compared with 23.6% for Urban Outfitters’ captured market. Meanwhile, Urban Outfitters seems to be more popular among visitors from one-person and non-family households, with 43.5% of its captured market belonging to this segment, compared to 38.5% of Anthropologie’s captured market.
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Analyzing the captured and potential markets of Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters from a psychographic perspective also reveals differences between the two brands that align with the demographic profiles in the chains’ trade areas. Anthropologie tends to attract more suburban visitors – including shoppers belonging to Spatial.ai PersonaLive’s “Booming with Confidence” segment. Meanwhile, Urban Outfitters draws more Singles & Starters than Anthropologie in both its captured and potential trade area.
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The differences between the makeup of Athropologie’s and Urban Outfitters’ potential and captured market indicate that a chain’s site selection strategy is not the only factor impacting who visits the chain’s stores in practice.
Both Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters have relatively similar psychographics and demographics in their potential trade areas, meaning that – based solely on the location of their stores – both brands’ stores have the potential to reach the same types of shoppers. But the demographics and psychographics in the captured markets are distinct, indicating that even stores carrying similar sorts of products and located in similar areas can use contrasting branding, price-points, and other factors to draw in the desired target audience.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/blog.
Hot on the heels of the burrito’s emergence as America’s favorite dish in 2022 – edging out even the iconic cheeseburger – spicy potato tacos rocked Grubhub’s list of 2023’s top five spicy food orders.
So with the new year upon us, we dove into the data to check in with three steadily-expanding taco chains that are likely to continue making waves this year: Bartaco, Condado Tacos, and El Vaquero. Each of the three chains fills a somewhat different niche, and each of them is growing – showing that despite the challenges facing the restaurant industry, there’s a hot market for taco chains that hit the sweet spot with the right food and ambiance.
Bartaco, the upscale eatery known for its beach-like vibe, specialty cocktails, and eclectic street food menu, is a taco restaurant with a twist. The diverse menu includes everything from falafel tacos to glazed pork belly rice bowls. And while guac and chips are on offer, hungry diners can also indulge in kale caesar salad or Korean-style kimchi. Over the past several years, Bartaco has expanded its fleet – and the restaurant now boasts some 29 locations across 12 states (and Washington, D.C).
Condado Tacos is another popular restaurant that has grown its footprint in recent years. The “come as you are” casual-dining chain known for its funky art decor now features some 49 locations across 10 states – 20 of them in Ohio. And with plans to open 90-100 restaurants by 2026, the chain is on a roll. Customers can build their own tacos with fillings like Thai Chili Tofu or Tequila-Lime Steak, or choose one of the menu’s tempting suggestions. And like Bartaco, Condado Tacos offers a variety of cocktails – including seasonal choices like the Harvest Pear Marg.
And location intelligence shows that the expansion of both chains is meeting growing demand. Visits to Bartaco and Condado Tacos have risen steadily over the past two years, reaching a respective 52.2% and 52.9% growth in Q4 2023 relative to Q1 2022.
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Ohio is also home to El Vaquero – a Mexican chain with 18 locations in the Buckeye State and two more in Michigan. El Vaquero, which has also expanded over the past several years, saw foot traffic rise 4.8% in Q4 2023 compared to the equivalent period of 2022. And with a menu that includes everything from nachos to huevos con chorizo, it’s no wonder the chain has emerged as a local favorite.
Like Bartaco and Condado Tacos, El Vaquero has a rich cocktail menu, as well as a varied selection of wines and beers. And while the chain’s offerings certainly draw crowds throughout the year, El Vaquero really goes crazy on Cinco de Mayo, the May 5th commemoration of Mexico's victory over Napoleon in 1862. El Vaquero marks the occasion with a five-day special menu and an all-day happy hour on Cinco de Mayo itself. And on May 5th, 2023, El Vaquero experienced its busiest day of the year by far, drawing a remarkable 200.2% more visitors than it did, on average, during April and May 2023.
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Drilling down into the data for Bartaco, Condado Tacos, and El Vaquero shows that despite their differences, the three chains experience similar hourly visitation patterns. All three are busiest in the evenings – but while El Vaquero and Condado Tacos peak between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Bartaco peaks somewhat later, between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. Bartaco also stays busier into the 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM time slot.
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Bartaco’s, Condado Tacos’, and El Vaquero’s evening draw may be due, in part, to the special appeal they hold for singles: The captured markets of all three chains feature significant shares of one-person households – and in the case of Bartaco and Condado Tacos, smaller concentrations of families with children. (For El Vaquero, the proportion of households with children is on par with that of single-person households). Of the three, the more upscale Bartaco boasts the highest share of single-person households – and the lowest share of parental ones – perhaps explaining its later visit peak and greater late-night engagement.
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Mexican food has arisen as a preferred cuisine for many consumers. And even in today’s challenging economic environment, brands that can offer a winning combination of good food, nice cocktails, and a welcoming atmosphere are poised to thrive. How will Bartaco, Condado Tacos, and El Vaquero continue to fare in the new year? And what lies in store for the wider taco restaurant space in the months to come?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven dining analyses to find out.
High food-away-from-home prices weighed on the dining sector in 2023. But affordable indulgences were the name of the game – and for plenty of people, their daily caffeine fix remained non-negotiable.
So with the new year gathering steam, we dove into the data to explore consumer trends impacting Starbucks and Dunkin’ in 2023. What were the biggest days of the year for the two chains? And who were the java enthusiasts driving visits to the two chains last year?
The first Friday of every June is National Donut Day, an event first kicked off by the Salvation Army in the 1930’s to honor folks that served doughnuts to soldiers during the First World War. Every year, Dunkin’ marks the occasion with – you guessed it – free doughnuts, and this year wasn’t any different. On June 2, 2023, Dunkin’ fans were invited to snag a delicious free treat with the purchase of any beverage, and customers turned out in droves.
The day turned out to be the busiest one of the year, with Dunkin’ locations seeing a 49.4% increase in foot traffic compared to the chain’s 2023 daily average. And after a couple of years when the occasion garnered somewhat less turnout, National Donut Day appears to be very much on track to regain its pre-COVID glory (The last time National Donut Day was the busiest day of the year was in 2019). Friends, it seems, really don't let friends miss out on free doughnuts.
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Like many restaurant and coffee chains, Starbucks tends to be busiest on Saturdays. And in 2023, the popular coffee chain drew its biggest crowds on November 4th – the first Saturday after the launch of the eagerly-anticipated holiday menu. With mouth-watering offerings like Chestnut Praline Latte and Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Chai, it’s no wonder customers can’t wait to indulge – especially when they can top off their drink with a Snowman Cookie or a Peppermint Brownie Cake Pop. (Luckily, the menu launch comes before those pesky new year’s resolutions.)
Starbucks’ second-busiest day of the year in 2023 was Black Friday (November 24th), as shoppers sought a quick way to fuel up or get a caffeine boost while they hit the stores. And the chain’s third-busiest day of the year was August 26th – the first Saturday after the annual release of Starbucks’ calendar-owning Pumpkin Spice Latte, a tradition that never fails to drive excitement – and foot traffic.
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But who were the customers that fueled Starbucks’ and Dunkin’s foot traffic in 2023? Analyzing the two chains’ captured markets with psychographics from Spatial.ai shows that while each of them attracted a somewhat different audience, they both drew diverse crowds throughout the year.
Starbucks, which features a cozy ambiance that encourages people to stay a while, has emerged as a popular WFH spot – and is more likely than Dunkin’ to be frequented by Young Professionals. The doughnut leader, on the other hand, boasts a to-go vibe, and draws greater shares of Suburban Boomers and Rural High-Income customers. Still, the data shows that coffee consumption is far from a zero-sum game, and in 2023, both chains attracted healthy shares of each of the analyzed segments.
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In addition, while Starbucks customers tend to hail from more affluent areas than Dunkin’ fans, the median household income (HHI) of each chain’s customer base varied considerably by region last year – as did the extent of the HHI gap between the two chains.
Starbucks’ most affluent customer base was in New England, where the median HHI of its captured market stood at $90.7K – a significant 19.2% higher than that of Dunkin’s ($75.8K). But in the Pacific region, including California, Dunkin’s captured market had a median HHI of $83.2K, just 2.1% lower than that of Starbucks.
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“Coffee, coffee, coffee!” may be a bit from Gilmore Girls, but it’s also a way of life for millions of Americans. And location data shows that in 2023, there was plenty of love to go around for coffee leaders like Starbucks and Dunkin’.
How will National Donut Day and Starbucks’ holiday menu play out in 2024? And what does the new year have in store for the coffee space more generally?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven analyses to find out.
In the spring of 2023, the surgeon general released an alarming report about the epidemic of loneliness in the US, which has negative implications on our physical, social, and emotional health such as “a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%.” Among his six recommendations to combat this, the number one idea was to “Strengthen Social Infrastructure: Connections are not just influenced by individual interactions, but by the physical elements of a community (parks, libraries, playgrounds) and the programs and policies in place. To strengthen social infrastructure, communities must design environments that promote connection, establish and scale community connection programs, and invest in institutions that bring people together.” We’ve written at length about how malls are becoming one of the old-but-new gathering places for Gen Z and how pickleball is a new craze that has been bringing people together. Let’s take a look now at how some parks and recreation centers serve their communities as well as the vision for one mall redeveloper, who held town halls and numerous local meetings in order to understand the needs of the community.
First up is Brooklyn Bridge Park. This 85- acre park resides on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. It has revitalized 1.3 miles of Brooklyn’s post-industrial waterfront. Among its many offerings are playgrounds, athletic fields, a roller-skating rink, fitness equipment, kayak and canoe launch sites, and basketball, bocce, handball, and beach volleyball courts.
There’s certainly a seasonal element to park visitation, with visits increasing into the spring and peaking in the summer.
Late afternoon into the evening tends to be when most people visit the park.
It appears most visitors enjoy their park outing with hamburgers, some shopping, pizza, and ice cream with Shake Shack the top destination before and after visiting.
While Educated Urbanites and Young Urban Singles make up the majority of segments, the park attracts a broad range of additional segments, ranging from Ultra Wealthy Families to Urban Low Income. Another fun fact about this park is that it is financially self-sustaining, due to the fact that 10% of the parkland was set aside for development, which sustains 90% of the park’s operating budget.
Speaking of Brooklyn, we now turn our attention to a Dallas-based developer, Peter Brodsky, who originally hails from Brooklyn. He purchased the Redbird Mall in South Dallas in 2015 and incorporated much community feedback to understand what the residents in the area wanted, such as jobs, health care, grocers, restaurants, and a Starbucks. It’s currently under development as The Shops at RedBird, and incorporating trends we’ve highlighted in previous Anchor articles, such as mixed-use, with a new apartment complex on the grounds of an ex-parking lot; a Courtyard Marriott hotel to follow; two health care providers--Parkland and UT Southwestern-- taking over Dillard’s and Sears further reinforcing our bullishness on malls and healthcare; and on the second floor a call center operator that employs two thousand workers with plans for more. Below, we show a birds-eye view plan for this exciting new development. Plus, there is a one-acre lawn for community events.
Like almost all malls, these shops saw a dip during the pandemic, but since then traffic has perked up.
When we look at year-over-year change from the surrounding zip codes, we see a fair amount of growth coming from the south and the farther western direction.
Using Jan 1, 2023 as a baseline, the overall shopping center as well as some of the major tenants like Starbucks, Burlington, and Foot Locker show a positive trend.
In fact, among all the Starbucks stores that Placer tracks, this Starbucks location at Redbird ranks #5 in traffic for the year 2023.
In more exciting news, there are also plans for a Tom Thumb grocery to open up at this shopping center. We will keep an eye on this development for sure as more tenants and office/residence/hospitality opens up.
The past four years have each taken on their own identities for consumers, retailers, and commercial real estate companies. 2020 was obviously the pandemic year, where consumers had to quickly change behaviors and retailers were forced to make drastic changes in their business models to keep up. With such drastic changes in 2020, 2021 became a year where many retailers and commercial real estate companies made structural changes in their operating models, adopting new store sizes or formats or evolving their tenant mix. 2022 got off to a rocky start with COVID variants and inflationary pressures, but eventually, we saw a reopening that led to a shift away from physical goods to experiences that has largely continued through today. And while inflation defined much of 2023, we also think consumers' focus on events, value, and uniqueness also explains consumer behavior.
Heading into the year, there was hope that 2024 would be our first “normal” year in some time, but three weeks in, we’re already seeing evidence that weather may be end up being a more pronounced story. Storms across the Midwest (for the week ending Jan. 15) and Southeast (during the week ended Jan. 22) have already had a significant impact on visitation trends across many retail categories. Below, we’ve used data from Placer’s Industry Trends report to examine year-over-year visit trends for chains across all major retail categories to start the year.
For the week ended Jan. 8, visits decreased -8.6% nationwide across all categories and a relatively small variance range across states (ranging from double-digit declines across much of the Northeast to low-single-digit decline in the upper Midwest).
We start to see the impact of the snowstorms that hit the Midwest U.S. during the week ended Jan. 15, with Nebraska and Iowa seeing an almost 30% decrease in visitors year-over-year, and many other surrounding states seeing a 20% decrease in visits.
For the week ended Jan. 22, the Southeast U.S. was more heavily impacted, including a -32% decrease in retail visits in Tennessee, a -22% decline in Mississippi, and mid-to-high teens declines in Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and West Virginia. Texas saw a -14% decline in visits that week.
Which categories were hit hardest by these weather trends? Consumer electronics–which had a strong Black Friday and solid holiday period (which we discuss in the economics section below)–saw mid-to-high teen declines in visits throughout January, although the category is lapping some tougher comparisons with many retailers shedding excess inventory in the year ago period (this is also true for office supplies). After that, we see the greatest impact in a few more weather-sensitive categories like home improvement (mid-teens declines in visits) and restaurants (the QSR/Fast Casual and full-service restaurant categories both saw double-digit declines in visits as the month progressed).
We expect weather will be a key topic as retailers and restaurants begin to report their full-year 2023 results and provide 2024 outlooks over the next month. Historically, inclement weather is something that doesn’t have a major impact on consumer demand for products and services (it usually just delays these purchases), but it is possible that those chains that have outsized exposure to the affected regions may temper their expectations for the year.
1. Idaho and South Carolina have emerged as significant domestic migration magnets over the past four years. Between January 2021 and 2025, both states gained over 3.0% of their populations through domestic migration. Other Mountain and Sun Belt states – including Nevada, Montana, and Florida – also drew significant inflow, while California, New York, and Illinois experienced the greatest outmigration.
2. Interstate migration cooled noticeably in 2024. During the 12-month period ending January 2025, California, New York and Illinois saw their outflows slow dramatically, while domestic migration hotspots like Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflows flatten to zero. A similar cooling trend emerged on a CBSA level.
3. Still, some states continued to see notable relocation activity over the past year. In 2024, Idaho, South Carolina, and North Dakota drew the most relocators relative to their populations. And among the nation’s ten largest states, North Carolina led with an inflow of 0.4%.
4. Phoenix remained a rare bright spot among the nation’s ten largest metro areas. The CBSA was the only major analyzed hub to maintain positive net domestic migration through 2024.
Over the past several years, the United States has experienced significant domestic migration shifts, driven by factors like remote work, housing affordability, and regional economic opportunities. As some areas reap the benefits of population inflows, others grapple with outflows tied to higher living costs and evolving workplace dynamics.
This report dives into the location analytics to explore where Americans have moved since 2021 – and how these patterns began to change in 2024.
Since 2021, Americans have flocked toward warmer climates, expansive natural scenery, and more affordable housing options – particularly in the Mountain and Sun Belt states.
Between January 2021 and January 2025, South Carolina led the nation in positive net domestic migration – drawing an influx of newcomers equivalent to 3.6% of its January 2025 population. (This metric is referred to as a state’s “net migrated percent of population.”) Next in line was Idaho with a 3.4% net migrated percent of population, followed by Nevada, (2.8%), Montana (2.8%), Florida (2.1%), South Dakota (2.1%), Wyoming (2.0%), North Carolina (2.0%), and Tennessee (1.9%). Texas saw positive net migration of just 0.9% during the same period. However, the Lone Star State’s large overall population means a substantial number of newcomers in absolute terms.
Meanwhile, California (-2.2%), New York (-2.1%), and Illinois (-1.9%) experienced the greatest outflows relative to their populations. This exodus was driven largely by soaring housing costs and the rise of remote work, which lowered barriers to moving out of high-priced areas.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, many of the same broad patterns persisted, but at a more moderate clip – suggesting a stabilization of domestic migration nationwide. This leveling off could reflect factors such as rising mortgage interest rates, which dampened home buying and selling, as well as the increased push for employees to return to the office.
Still, South Carolina (+0.6%) and Idaho (+0.6%) remained among the top inflow states. The two hotspots were joined – and slightly surpassed – by North Dakota (+0.8%), where even modest waves of newcomers make a big impact due to the state’s lower population base. A wealth of affordable housing and a strong job market have positioned North Dakota as a particularly attractive destination for U.S. relocators in recent years. And Microsoft and Amazon’s establishment of major presences around Fargo has strengthened the region’s economy.
Meanwhile, California (-0.3%), New York (-0.2%), and Illinois (-0.1%) continued to post negative net migration, but at a markedly slower rate than in prior years. And notably, several states that had been struggling with outflow, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, and Oregon, began showing minor positive inflow during the same 12-month window. As home affordability erodes in pandemic-era hot spots like the Mountain states and Sun Belt, these areas may emerge as new destinations for Americans seeking lower costs of living.
Zooming in on the ten most populous U.S. states offers an even clearer picture of how domestic migration patterns have stabilized over the past year. The graph below shows a side-by-side comparison of domestic migration patterns during the 36-month period ending January 2024 and the 12-month period ending January 2025.
California, New York, and Illinois saw population outflows slow dramatically during the 12 months ending January 2025 – while domestic migration magnets such as Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflow flatten to zero. Meanwhile, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania flipped from slightly negative to slightly positive net migration – incremental upticks that could signal a possible turnaround.
The only “Big Ten” pandemic-era migration magnet to maintain strong inflow in 2024 was North Carolina – which saw a 0.4% influx in 2024 as a result of interstate moves.
A closer look at the top four states receiving outmigration from California and New York (October 2020 to October 2024) reveals that residents leaving both states tended to settle in nearby areas or in Florida.
Among those leaving New York, 37.4% ended up in neighboring states – 21.1% moved to New Jersey, 9.2% to Pennsylvania, and 7.1% to Connecticut. But an astonishing 28.8% decamped all the way to the Sunshine State, trading the Northeast’s colder climate for Florida sunshine.
Similarly, 20.1% of California leavers chose to stay nearby, moving to Nevada (11.5%) or Arizona (8.6%). Another 19.1% moved to Texas, and 8.0% moved to Florida, making it the fourth-largest destination for Californians.
Zooming in on CBSA-level data – focusing on the nation’s ten largest metropolitan areas, all with over five million people – reveals a similar picture of slowing domestic migration over the last year.
Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. – four cities that experienced notable population outflows between January 2021 and January 2024 – saw those outflows flatten considerably. For these metros, this leveling-off may serve as a promising sign that the waves of departures seen in recent years may have begun to subside. Conversely, Houston and Dallas, which both welcomed positive net migration between January 2021 and January 2024, registered zero-net domestic migration in 2024. Atlanta, for its part, remained flat in both of the analyzed periods.
In Miami, however, outmigration persisted at a substantial rate. Despite Florida’s overall status as a domestic migration magnet, Miami lost 2.6% of its population to domestic net migration between January 2020 and January 2024 – and another 1.0% between January 2024 and January 2025. As one of Florida’s most expensive housing markets, Miami may be losing some residents to other parts of the state or elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, Philadelphia, which lost 0.3% of its population to net domestic migration between January 2021 and January 2024, continued losing residents at a slightly faster pace in 2024 – another 0.3% just last year.
Of the ten biggest CBSAs nationwide, only Phoenix continued to see a net domestic migration gain through 2024 (+0.2%). This highlights the CBSA’s continued draw as a (relative) relocation hotspot even in 2024’s cooling market.
Who are the domestic relocators heading to Phoenix?
From October 2020 to October 2024, the top five metro areas sending residents to the Phoenix CBSA each registered median household incomes (HHIs) of $73K to $98K – surpassing Phoenix’s own median of $72K. This suggests that many of those moving in are arriving from wealthier, often more expensive metro areas – for whom even Phoenix’s high-priced market may offer more affordable living.
Overall, domestic migration patterns appear to have cooled in 2024, reflecting economic and societal trends that have slowed the rush from pricey coastal hubs to more affordable regions. Yet states like South Carolina, Idaho, and North Dakota – as well as metro areas like Phoenix – continue to attract new arrivals, paving the way for evolving regional demographics in the years to come.
In today’s retail landscape, consumer behavior is influenced by a multitude of factors, directly impacting the success of products and brands. This report explores the latest trends in value perception, shopping behavior, and media consumption that impact which brands consumers are most likely to engage with – and how.
In the apparel space, consumers continue to prioritize value and unique merchandise.
Analysis of visits to various apparel categories reveals a steady increase in the share of visits going to off-price retailers and thrift stores at the expense of traditional apparel chains.
And the popularity of off-price chains and thrift stores appears to be widespread across multiple audience segments. Analyzing trade area data with the Experian: Mosaic psychographic dataset reveals a clear preference for second-hand retailers among both younger (ages 25-30) and older (51+) consumer segments. Meanwhile, middle-class parents aged 36-45 with teenagers – the “Family Union” segment – are significantly more likely to shop at off-price apparel stores, highlighting their emphasis on buying new, while saving both time and money.
This suggests that the powerful blend of treasure-hunting and deep value, central to both the off-price and thrift experiences, is driving traffic from a variety of audiences, and that other industries could benefit from combining affordability with the allure of unique products.
Diving deeper into the location intelligence for the apparel space further highlights thrift and off-price’s broad appeal – and that a combination of quality and price motivates consumers to visit different retailers.
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom visitors that also visited a Goodwill or Ross Dress for Less increased significantly.
And while this could mean that the current economic climate is causing some higher-income consumers to trade down to lower-priced retailers, it could also be that consumers are prioritizing sustainability and seeking value in terms of “bang for their buck” – shopping a combination of retailers depending on the cost versus quality considerations for each purchase.
Consumers increasingly expect to shop on their own terms, opting for a more flexible shopping experience that blurs the lines between traditional retail channels and categories.
Superstores and warehouse stores, for example, often evoke the image of navigating aisle after aisle of nearly every product imaginable – a time-consuming endeavor given the sheer size of their stores. But the latest location intelligence shows that more consumers are turning to these retailers for super-quick shopping trips.
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of visits lasting less than ten minutes at Target, Walmart, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Sam’s Club, and to a lesser extent Costco, rose steadily – perhaps due to increased use of flexible BOPIS (buy online, pick-up in-store) and curbside pick-up options. These stores may also be seeing a rise in consumers popping in to grab just a few items as-needed or to cherry-pick particular deals to complement their larger online shopping orders.
This trend highlights the demand for frictionless store experiences that allow visitors to conveniently shop or pick up orders even at large physical retailers.
And the breaking down of traditional retail silos isn’t limited to big-box chains. Diving into the data for quick service restaurants (QSR), fast casual chains, and grocery stores indicates that more consumers are also looking for new ways to grab a convenient bite.
Since 2019, grocery stores have been claiming an increasingly large share of the midday short visit pie – i.e. visits between 11:00 AM 3:00 PM lasting less than ten minutes – at the expense of QSR chains. This suggests that consumers seeking quick and affordable lunches are increasingly turning to grocery stores to pick up a few items or take advantage of self-service food bars. Notably, the rise in supermarket lunching hasn’t come at the expense of fast-casual restaurants, which have also upped their quick-service games – and have seen a small increase in their share of the quick lunchtime crowd over the past five years.
While some of QSR’s relative decline in short lunchtime visits could be due to discontent with rising fast-food prices, it’s clear that an increasing share of consumers see grocery and fast-casual chains as viable options during the lunch rush.
In 2025, tapping into hot trends and creating viral moments are among the most powerful tools for amplifying promotions and driving foot traffic to physical stores.
Retailers across categories have successfully harnessed the power of pop culture collaborations to generate excitement – and visits – by leaning into trending themes. On October 8th, 2024, for example, Wendy’s launched its epic Krabby Patty Collab, inspired by the beloved SpongeBob franchise. And during the week of the offering, the chain experienced a remarkable 21.5% increase in foot traffic compared to an average week that year.
Similarly, Crumbl – adept at creating buzz through manufactured scarcity – sparked a frenzy with the debut of its exclusive Olivia Rodrigo GUTS cookie. Initially available only at select locations near the artist’s concert venues, the cookie was launched nationwide for a limited time from August 19th to 24th, 2024. This buzz-driven release resulted in a 27.7% traffic surge during the week of the launch, as fans rushed to get a taste of the star-studded treat.
And it’s not just dining chains benefiting from these pop-culture moments. On February 16th, 2025, Bath & Body Works launched a Disney Princess-inspired fragrance line, perfect for fans of Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Moana, and Tiana. The collaboration resonated, fueling a 23.2% visit spike for the chain.
While tapping into existing pop-culture trends has the ability to drive traffic, so does creating a new one. Analysis of movie theater visits on National Popcorn Day (Sunday, January 19th, 2025) shows how initiating a trend can spur social media engagement and impact in-person traffic to physical retail spaces.
National Popcorn Day was a successful promotional holiday across the movie theater industry in 2025. Both Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres offered popcorn-based promotions on the day, but Cinemark’s “Bring Your Own Bucket” campaign, in particular, appears to have spurred a significant foot traffic boost during the event.
Visits to Cinemark on National Popcorn Day in 2025 increased 57.5% relative to the Sunday visit average for January and February 2025, as movie-goers showed off their out-of-the-bucket popcorn receptacles on social media. Clearly, by starting a trend that invited creativity and expression, Cinemark was able to amplify the impact of its National Popcorn Day promotion.
Location intelligence illuminates some of the key trends shaping consumer behavior in 2025. The data reveals that value-driven shopping, demand for flexibility across touchpoints, and the power of unique retail moments have the power to drive consumer engagement and the success of retail categories, brands, and products.
Placer.ai observes a panel of mobile devices in order to extrapolate and generate visitation insights for a variety of locations across the U.S. This panel covers only visitors from within the United States and does not represent or take into account international visitors.
Downtown districts in the nation’s major cities attract domestic travelers all year long with their iconic sights, lively entertainment, and diverse dining offerings. But each hub follows its own rhythm, shaped by distinct seasonal peaks and dips in visitor flow.
This white paper examines downtown hotel visitation patterns in four of the nation’s most popular destinations for domestic tourists: Miami, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Focusing on 20 downtown hotels in each city, the analysis explores seasonal variations in domestic travel, city-specific dynamics, and differentiating factors.
Domestic tourism has rebounded strongly in recent years, and hotels in Miami and Chicago have been the biggest beneficiaries. In 2024, visits to analyzed hotels in each of these cities’ downtown areas grew by 8.9% and 7.4%, respectively, compared to 2023. Meanwhile, hotels in downtown and midtown Manhattan saw a more modest 2.0% increase, while Los Angeles experienced a slight year-over-year (YoY) decline in downtown hotel visits.
One factor that may be driving Miami and Chicago’s stronger performance is their higher proportion of long-distance visitors, defined as those visiting from over 250 miles away. Miami remains a top destination for snowbirds and spring breakers, while Chicago serves as a cultural and entertainment hub for the sprawling Midwest. These long-distance leisure travelers may be more likely to splurge on downtown hotel stays during their trips, helping drive hotel visit growth in the two cities.
By contrast, hotels in the Los Angeles and Manhattan city centers drew lower shares of domestic travelers coming from less than 250 miles away. These shorter-haul domestic tourists may be less likely to splurge on downtown hotels than those taking longer vacations. Both cities are also surrounded by numerous regional getaway options that can draw long-haul leisure travelers away from their downtown cores.
Each of the four analyzed cities has its own unique ebbs and flows – and city center hotel visits reflect these patterns. Miami, with its warm, sunny climate, experiences influxes of tourists during the winter and spring, with March seeing the biggest jump in downtown hotel visits last year (13.0% above the monthly visit average). Chicago, which thrives in the summer with its many festivals and events, saw its biggest downtown hotel visit bump in August. Meanwhile, Manhattan experienced a major uptick in December, likely fueled by holiday tourism and New Year celebrations, and Los Angeles visits were highest in the summertime.
What drives these seasonal visit peaks? Miami has long been a top tourism destination, especially in early spring, when snowbirds and spring breakers flock to the city for sun and relaxation. In recent years, the city has seen a rise in short-term domestic tourism, suggesting that the city is becoming increasingly popular for weekend getaways. According to the Placer.ai Tourism Dashboard, the share of domestic tourists staying just one or two nights grew from 71.7% in March 2022 to 78.3% in March 2024.
This shift aligns with an impressive increase in the magnitude of downtown Miami’s springtime hotel visit peak: In March 2022, visits to downtown hotels were 5.0% above the monthly average for the year, a share that more than doubled by 2024 to 12.9%.
These numbers may mean that more people are choosing to head to Miami for a quick break from the cold – and staying in downtown hotels to make the most of their short getaway.
Chicago’s major August visit spike was likely driven by the Windy City’s impressive lineup of major summer festivals, from Lollapalooza to the Chicago Air and Water Show, which draw thousands of attendees from across the country.
Lollapalooza fueled the largest visit spike to the city – between Thursday, August 1st and Sunday, August 4th, visits to downtown Chicago hotels surged between 51.1% and 63.8% above 2024 daily averages for those days of the week. The Air and Water Show and the Chicago Jazz Festival also generated significant hotel visit increases – highlighting the boost these events bring to the city’s tourism and hospitality sector.
The Big Apple draws a diverse mix of visitors throughout the year. But in December – the city’s peak tourist season – visitors pour in from all over the country to skate in Rockefeller Center, browse Fifth Avenue’s festive window displays and experience the city’s unique holiday magic.
And analyzing data from hotels in midtown and downtown Manhattan reveals a striking shift in the types of visitors who stay in the heart of NYC during the holiday season. While visitors from other urban centers dominated downtown hotel stays throughout most of the year – accounting for 47.9% of visits from January to November 2024 – their share dropped to 42.0% in December 2024. Meanwhile, the share of guests from suburban areas and small towns rose from 37.3% to 41.0%, and the share of guests from rural and semi-rural areas nearly doubled, from 3.5% to 6.1%.
These patterns suggest that, though Manhattan typically attracts a wide range of visitors, the holiday season is uniquely appealing to tourists from smaller towns and suburban areas. Understanding these trends can provide crucial context for hotels and civic stakeholders alike as they work to maximize the opportunities presented by the city’s December visit surge.
Los Angeles hotels also experience significant demographic shifts during peak season. In July, visits to downtown LA hotels surged by 15.3% relative to the 2024 monthly visit average. And a closer look at audience segmentation data suggests a corresponding surge in the share of "Flourishing Families" – an Experian: Mosaic segment consisting of affluent, middle-aged households with children. Throughout the year, "Flourishing Families" comprised between 7.7% and 8.7% of the census block groups (CBGs) driving visits to downtown LA hotels. But in July, this share jumped to 9.9%.
These families may be taking advantage of summer vacations to enjoy Los Angeles’ cultural attractions and entertainment. Hotels and city stakeholders who understand the appeal the city holds for this demographic can better cater to them through family-friendly promotions and strategic marketing efforts to target these households.
Downtowns are making a comeback – and hotels in the heart of the nation’s major tourist hubs are reaping the benefits. By understanding who frequents these downtown hotels and when, local businesses and civic leaders can optimize their resource management and strategic planning to make the most of these opportunities.
