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Even as overall retail and dining visits show signs of slowing amid economic uncertainty, dollar stores continue to thrive. In July and August 2025, overall foot traffic to Dollar General and Dollar Tree rose 2.7% and 3.9% year over year (YoY), with average visits per location up 1.8% and 5.7%, respectively.
This momentum has not necessarily come at the expense of other discount giants like Walmart and Target. But what does the dollar-store surge mean for the grocery sector? We dove into the data to find out, focusing on category leader Dollar General. Is the retailer siphoning visits away from supermarkets, or is it serving as a complementary stop alongside other formats?
Over the past several years, Dollar General has steadily deepened its grocery presence. Fresh produce rollouts, expanded frozen assortments, and a focus on “everyday essentials” have helped shift its positioning from an occasional convenience stop to a more frequent shopping destination.
Foot traffic trends align with this shift. From Q2 2019 to Q2 2025, Dollar General’s share of grocery visits – across both traditional and value chains – rose consistently, while traditional chains like Kroger and Albertsons lost nearly four percentage points. Value grocers, meanwhile, (i.e. Aldi) remained stable through 2022 before gaining ground themselves, suggesting that Dollar General has primarily pulled shoppers away from traditional supermarkets even as other budget-oriented grocers strengthened.
Cross-visitation data also supports this pattern. Kroger visitors are increasingly supplementing their shopping routines with Dollar General, while Dollar General customers are gradually reducing their reliance on Kroger. This points to Dollar General’s growth coming, at least in part, at the expense of traditional grocers.
So far, this shift has yet to make a major dent in grocery performance. Even as the share of Dollar General shoppers visiting Kroger has declined, Kroger’s overall traffic has remained relatively steady – up 1.3% between Q2 2019 and Q2 2022, and down just 1.2% between Q2 2022 and Q2 2025. This indicates that Kroger has so far managed to offset losses to Dollar General by drawing in new visits, potentially including shoppers trading down from restaurants to prepared foods in the grocery aisle. Looking ahead, grocers may continue to hold their ground by adapting to consumers' changing food routines, even as dollar stores expand their role in food retail.
Meanwhile, Dollar General’s relationship with Aldi has evolved differently. From 2019 to 2022, overlap between the two chains held flat or dipped slightly. But from 2022 to 2025, cross-visitation rose in both directions: More Dollar General shoppers visited Aldi, and vice versa. The pattern suggests the two are increasingly functioning as complementary stops for value-driven households – similar to how Dollar General coexists with Walmart, Target, and Costco. Aldi's positioning as a complement rather than a direct competitor is likely also one of the tailwinds behind the grocer's sustained nationwide growth.
And these patterns extend nationwide. Dollar General’s footprint remains strongest in the South, where it accounted for one in five visits to grocery stores in Q2 2025. But the chain’s fastest grocery visit growth is occurring elsewhere. Between 2019 and 2025, its grocery visit share climbed by over four points in the Midwest and more than three points in the Northeast. And despite Dollar General’s relatively limited presence in the West, it nearly doubled its grocery visit share over the same period.
Location analytics further reveal that Dollar General’s growth has been fueled largely by its dominance in short visits – ”in-and-out” trips lasting less than ten minutes for essentials like milk, bread, eggs, or snacks. Dollar General now accounts for 28.0% of all under-ten minute visits to Dollar General, traditional grocery stores, and value grocery stores. This is a sharp increase from the 24.1% relative short visit share going to Dollar General in Q2 2019.
Dollar General's share of extended visits (over 10 minutes) also grew between Q2 2019 and Q2 2025, but these still account for just 10.2% of combined Dollar General and grocery visits. Together, these trends underscore how Dollar General has solidified its role as a quick-stop destination, carving out a niche that complements rather than fully replaces the traditional grocery trip.
As Dollar General continues expanding its footprint and grocery offerings, its impact on how – and where – Americans shop for food is poised to keep growing. By capturing short-visit traffic and offering a broader grocery selection, the chain is reshaping the competitive landscape and prompting both traditional and value grocers to adapt.
For the most up-to-date dollar store visit data, check out Placer.ai's free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
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Book retailer Barnes & Noble has been making strategic moves to strengthen its position in the marketplace. The chain, which prioritizes building a local, independent bookstore feel while leveraging its size and purchasing power, has been steadily acquiring beloved independent bookstore chains. It first acquired Colorado chain Tattered Cover in 2023, and just announced the acquisition of Books Inc. in the Bay Area.
We took a closer look at recent visit trends and compared Barnes & Noble’s customer behavior with Books Inc. to understand how this acquisition may help B&N extend its experiential, community-driven model – while giving Books Inc. the scale and pull of a national brand.
Some of the most successful brick-and-mortar retailers today are tapping into consumer desire for experiential retail and community – and Barnes & Noble is no exception. The chain has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, guided by new leadership and a deliberate shift toward bookstores that feel independent while being part of a national brand.
This approach seems to be resonating with shoppers: Throughout 2025, visits to B&N have risen consistently on a YoY basis. And average visits per location have increased most months as well, showing that even as the bookseller grows its fleet, existing stores are thriving. Building on that momentum, B&N is pushing ahead with expansion – beyond its recent acquisitions, the chain plans to open 60 new stores in 2025.
Barnes & Noble has achieved what many booksellers struggle to do: establish itself as an experiential destination for book lovers. Store managers have the freedom to curate selections tailored to their local communities, giving each location its own personality while maintaining the reach and resources of a large retailer. And while the company has acquired smaller, struggling brands, it has done so in a way that preserves their identity while giving them the purchasing power and financial cushion of a major national retailer. The latest example is Bay Area independent bookstore chain Books Inc., which will keep its name even as it operates under new management.
Location analytics reveal meaningful differences in customer behavior at the two chains. At a Barnes & Noble in Redwood City, CA, 65.1% of visitors stayed more than 15 minutes, compared to 57.2% at a Books Inc. just 5.5 miles away. Longer visits reflect the success of Barnes & Noble’s experiential approach – stores designed not just for quick purchases, but for browsing, discovery, and lingering.
The data also highlight a seasonal divergence. Barnes & Noble sees dramatic surges around key shopping moments – in December 2024, visits to the Redwood City B&N surged 47.5% above average, while Books Inc.’s increase was a more modest 16.4%. While Books Inc. has remained a steady draw throughout the year, Barnes & Noble has carved out a distinct role as a holiday destination, competing not only with other bookstores but also with broader categories like gifting and entertainment – a crucial differentiator in a retail sector where fourth-quarter performance can define a year.
Taken together, these patterns suggest that under B&N’s leadership, Books Inc. could deepen its appeal as both a community hub and a shopping destination. If management successfully blends Books Inc.’s historic local ties with B&N’s proven ability to capture extended visits and seasonal demand, the chain may see more sustained engagement and stronger sales peaks.
Barnes & Noble’s acquisition of Books Inc. has the potential to strengthen both brands. For B&N, it reinforces a community-first strategy that independent bookstores have long excelled at – and that continues to resonate with readers. For Books Inc., it brings the pull and financial stability of a national chain.
To explore more chains leading the visit growth pack, check out our free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
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Department stores have faced significant challenges in recent years, with inflationary pressures and the rise of off-price competitors weighing on performance. Yet Dillard’s has managed to buck the trend. We dove into the data to explore some of the factors helping Dillard’s stay ahead of its peers.
Better-than-expected recent earnings beats notwithstanding, department stores have faced considerable headwinds in recent years, with store closures and an overall category contraction leading to visit slowdowns. But Dillard’s has remained ahead of the curve – a resilience reflected not only in steady shopper traffic but also in a stock price that has surged as the chain continues to outperform peers.
While overall department store visits fell year-over-year (YoY) through much of 2025, Dillard’s posted positive traffic growth in several key months – most notably May, July, and August – and consistently outpaced a wider segment that saw continued declines.
Location analytics reveal three factors behind Dillard’s recent success: a consistent emphasis on fundamentals that have turned its stores into weekend retail destinations, a Sunbelt-focused footprint, and a thriving clearance network.
First, the fundamentals: Dillard’s has consistently excelled at the basics – maintaining clean, well-staffed stores, prioritizing essentials over fads, and offering an in-store experience defined by helpful sales associates. The fruits from this investment can be seen from its position as a bona fide destination. Between January and August 2025, 42.9% of Dillard’s visits took place over the weekend (Saturdays and Sundays), compared to 40.0% for other department stores. And almost half of Dillard’s weekend visitors traveled more than ten miles to shop (see chart below), versus just 36.5% for other department stores.
The pronounced weekend shift indicates that Dillard’s has become a destination retailer that shoppers go out of their way to visit – a powerful marker of brand strength in a challenging environment.
Dillard's concentration in growing Sunbelt markets like Texas and Florida may also mean that Dillard's is operating in markets relatively favorable to its offerings. The chain has no footprint in the Northeast, where the department store segment has seen the largest YoY declines. Instead, most of its stores are in the South and West where wider department store traffic trends have been generally more favorable.
Last but not least, Dillard’s successful clearance centers have also bolstered the retailer. Out of its 272 stores, 28 operate as clearance centers, and these locations are thriving.
While overall year-to-date visits to Dillard’s remained essentially flat YoY between January and August 2025 – aligning with recent earnings reports – visits to clearance stores rose 7.5% YoY. These outlets are driving meaningful incremental traffic at a time when value-conscious shopping is reshaping consumer behavior.
By combining regional strength, thriving clearance centers, and destination appeal, Dillard’s has carved out a rare advantage in a challenged sector. And with its recent acquisition of Longview Mall in Texas, the chain is showing that it’s not just surviving today’s headwinds – it’s betting on the future of department store retail.
For more data-driven department store insights explore Placer.ai’s free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
At a time when much of the retail industry looks and feels the same, many retailers are working to cement their brand identity and individuality with consumers, which can help set them apart from their competitors. Finding a competitive advantage can be hard to come by in 2025, as consumers hunt for value wherever they can find it and loyalty to any individual chain is low. This challenge is especially true in the apparel category, where assortments across retail banners have become more similar over time and retailers rely on the same trend forecasting, leading to a lack of newness in the market for shoppers.
One option to freshen up merchandising and offer something unique to potential visitors is through category expansion. Creating more opportunities for consumers to engage with different types of products in a single location could improve visit frequency and overall customer satisfaction, and allow the brand's ethos to expand beyond its traditional borders. Gap Inc. recently announced a new initiative in line with this theory; Both Gap & Old Navy will launch beauty lines in 2026 and 2025 respectively. Old Navy is also slated to launch a true collection of handbags.
Accessories and beauty are natural product expansion categories for retailers that specialize in fashion; for other apparel brands such as J.Crew, Madewell and French label Sézane, accessories have helped to bolster their business and deepen their relationships with shoppers. Luxury apparel and accessory brands have long intertwined their labels with beauty as well, which has helped to spark the prestige beauty industry. In examining the potential opportunity for both retailers and the expanded categories through the lens of retail visits, it’s clear that the mainstream apparel brands can benefit from creating more opportunities for consumers to engage with different products.
Gap Inc.’s planned launch of beauty lines at both Old Navy and Gap tap into the excitement generated by the beauty industry since the pandemic. Recently, the beauty space has faced more headwinds, with increased market saturation and changing consumer behavior softening demand for the category.
But beauty still has a lot of potential momentum ahead, with consumers' continued focus on health, wellness and appearance as well as the rising demand for more affordable indulgences and luxuries in the face of a challenging consumer environment. And while traffic to beauty and self care retail has remained relatively flat in 2025 so far compared to 2024, the industry is still lapping exceptionally strong gains from the past few years.
Gap Inc. has a strong opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to the beauty category. A significant share of Gap and Old Navy shoppers also frequent Ulta, with Old Navy showing the higher overlap (42.2% of Old Navy visitors also visited Ulta between January and August 2025, compared to 38.1% of Gap visitors) – likely one reason the beauty line will debut there first. The audience crossover between Gap Inc.'s leading banners and Ulta highlights clear demand for beauty among Gap Inc.'s customer base and opens the door for the company's apparel brands to capture a portion of that spend over time.
Importantly, both Ulta and Sephora have leaned into expanding their private-label offerings, reflecting consumers’ growing comfort with trying beauty products outside of traditional beauty brands. That shift suggests shoppers may also be willing to embrace beauty lines from retailers like Gap and Old Navy, giving Gap Inc. a more favorable entry point into the category.
Gap Inc.’s most recent release about the project mentioned adding beauty consultants to the Old Navy stores during this fall’s rollout of the category. Dedicated product knowledge and expertise is incredibly important in the beauty space, and visitors tend to stay longer to browse and learn. If Old Navy could capture even a few extra minutes of shoppers’ attention, conversion and dwell times could rise during the remainder of 2025.
Similar to the brands’ expansion into beauty, a new push into the accessories category might just be what Gap Inc. needs to further cement itself as a steward of American fashion. Accessories, including handbags, have had a challenging few years in the post-pandemic period. The category has become more fragmented, and consumers have shown an inclination for fewer logos and branded products. And, the Gap brand has already tested the strategy earlier this year with its collaboration with travel brand Beis.
Old Navy is the first brand to release a robust handbag offering, under the creative direction of Zac Posen – and there is evidence to suggest that handbags might be a great new expansion for the brand. Looking at Old Navy and Gap's visitor habits shows that there are high levels of cross-visitation with off-price retailers, including T.J.Maxx, Marshall’s and Ross Dress For Less.
The off-price channel has had the benefit of being able to curate an assortment of designer and branded handbags at value-driven price points, which has made it more difficult for other retailers to compete. Old Navy focusing on creating products that are value-driven but also fashion forward might prove them to be a worthy adversary in the value apparel space.
But the data also highlights that Gap may hold an even stronger opportunity in accessories.. The chain hasn’t launched its renewed accessories program, but the company recently announced hires hailing from leading accessories giants that certainly can help the brand shape its handbag identity. For consumers who are focused on trend-right styles at a more accessible price point, Gap may be able to find its footing, especially against the backdrop of economic headwinds for many American consumers.
Shoppers may also be looking for alternatives to luxury accessory brands over the next few years – especially those consumers who are considered more aspirational, or only purchase luxury goods occasionally due to their levels of discretionary spending. Foot traffic to luxury apparel and accessories brands shows a slowdown in luxury apparel's offline growth throughout 2025, and insights show that the visits are becoming more consolidated around wealthier shoppers.
Gap Inc.’s expansion into beauty and accessories can help the company drive differentiation in a retail environment where sameness dominates. By entering categories that naturally complement fashion, Gap Inc. has an opportunity to extend its brand identity beyond apparel, deepen customer engagement, and capture wallet share from both loyal shoppers and those trading down from luxury.
Success will hinge on execution: delivering value-driven yet fashion-forward products, ensuring knowledgeable in-store experiences, and crafting compelling brand storytelling. If Gap Inc. can leverage these new categories effectively, its beauty and accessories strategy could not only boost near-term traffic and sales but also lay the foundation for sustainable long-term growth in a highly competitive market.
Shifts away from designer handbags, both in the luxury and mid-tier segments, may create the perfect opportunity for Gap to stake its claim. The industry is still lacking affordable, fashion driven accessories that can appeal to a wide array of consumers. If the merchandising and brand storytelling can create a compelling reason to buy for shoppers, the brand might be able to extend the reinvention that has been working for the retailer throughout 2025.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
At the height of the pandemic, many wondered whether beauty (retailers like Ulta and Bath & Body Works) and fitness (i.e. gyms and health clubs) foot traffic would ever recover from the many months of home workouts and social distancing. Several years on, however, visits to these retail spaces have not only rebounded, but well-surpassed pre-pandemic levels. We dove into the data for the Beauty and Fitness spaces to find out how consumer behavior has changed and what might be contributing to these categories’ sustained foot traffic growth.
The graph below shows that visits to the Beauty & Self Care and Fitness spaces followed a consistently upward trajectory between 2021 and 2024, but their paths are now beginning to diverge.
Beauty – which expanded its offline footprint more rapidly compared to fitness between 2021 and 2024 – now appears to be plateauing. Ulta, one of the major beneficiaries of the post-pandemic beauty boom, recently raised its full-year guidance, while still expressing caution around global trade uncertainty and noting deceleration in higher priced fragrance and cosmetics. Some executives also report value-conscious shoppers as becoming more selective in their spending instead of chasing every new beauty trend. As a result, even though the sector remains well above pre-pandemic levels, rising consumer caution is putting the brakes on further gains – at least for now.
Meanwhile, fitness traffic continues to grow consistently year over year, perhaps aided by increasingly health-conscious Gen Z and millennial consumers. Although fitness' gains over the pre-pandemic baseline are not as large as those seen in beauty, the category’s steady momentum reflects an increasing consumer focus on wellness and signals substantial potential for future growth.
One factor behind the rise in fitness visits is likely that gymgoers are working out more frequently.
The share of visitors going to the gym around once a week (four times a month or more) increased between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025. Even more impressive is the increased visit frequency at the start of the year, a traditionally strong period for fitness traffic.
Fitness chains typically see a surge in visits at the start of the year as gym visitors – both new sign-ups and existing members – renew their commitment to healthy lifestyles as part of their New Year’s resolutions.
And the data suggests that gym-goers hit the gym more frequently during this period, as well. Close examination of the shaded area in the graph below shows that the share of gym-goers that went at least four times a month (about once a week) during the months Q1 2025 has increased compared to Q1 2024. And the most recent data reveals that frequency has remained higher this year compared to 2024 throughout the summer as well, indicating that visitor frequency is continuing to grow more robust.
In a period of economic uncertainty, gym-goers are getting more value out of their memberships than in the past, and seem to be more likely to join, and remain members, throughout the year.
Even as visits to the beauty space surged since 2019, the length of the average visit has decreased, highlighting the evolving but still critical role of physical stores.
Analysis of average visit duration for three leading chains – Ulta, Bath & Body Works, and Sally Beauty Supply – shows that the average visit length dropped across all three chains between H1 2019 and H1 2024. This trend may reflect the growing influence of social commerce in product discovery and digital sales, reducing the need for extended in-store browsing.
Yet, physical stores remain a powerful driver of engagement: many consumers still seek immersive experiences and want to try and buy products in-person. Retailers are enhancing the appeal of in-store shopping through cutting-edge beauty tech that connect digital discovery with physical retail spaces. Notably, between H1 2024 and H1 2025, the analyzed brands experienced a modest rebound in visit length – further evidence that physical stores continue to serve as vital tools for consumer engagement.
Foot traffic to both the beauty and fitness spaces has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. However, value-consciousness is currently putting pressure on beauty retail while health-consciousness is aiding fitness gains. Still, the future looks bright for both categories, in which physical spaces are taking on a new role in engaging consumers.
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Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
As consumer spending continues to bifurcate, mid-tier chains face headwinds while off-price and luxury apparel gain ground. Which of the two apparel segments has the greatest growth potential? We dove into the data to find out.
Off-price has led apparel growth in recent years, and continuing economic uncertainty is helping the segment build on that momentum and continue its upward trajectory in 2025. But the luxury apparel segment – which underperformed the wider apparel category for much of 2024 – has also been on the rise lately, as shown in the chart below.
So far in 2025, foot traffic to luxury chains and department stores has increased year-over-year, consistently outpacing the broader apparel category. This trend reflects the increasingly bifurcated retail space: value-oriented chains, including off-price leaders, are winning over budget-conscious shoppers, while premium brands continue to attract affluent customers who remain less sensitive to economic headwinds.
Still, the data also shows that off-price chains continue to show significantly stronger traffic growth, while luxury visits have recently stabilized – traffic between June and August 2025 was roughly flat YoY. This contrast underscores the greater growth potential of value-oriented retailers in the current environment, with middle-income shoppers far more likely to trade down into off-price than to stretch into luxury. So although affluent spending appears to be holding steady, luxury’s room for further expansion may be limited.
Luxury may be more visible than ever, with social media fueling brand awareness. Pandemic-era stimulus checks may also have briefly given middle-income shoppers an opportunity to splurge on coveted labels. But beneath the surface, the data suggests that the audience is actually narrowing, with luxury chains drawing more heavily from affluent areas – even as brands try to broaden their lines and bring prestige to the masses.
Between 2022 and 2025, the median HHI for luxury shoppers climbed from $115K to nearly $118K, while the medians for traditional and off-price apparel shoppers held steady.
This suggests that, as prices rise, luxury increasingly depends on the nation’s wealthiest households, while off-price, with its median HHI of $75K (closely aligned with the national average of $79.6K according to PopStats 2024 data), continues to draw a broad shopper base. Off-price’s income profile may even be buoyed by wealthier shoppers trading down, while mid-range apparel chains feel the pressure of more cost-conscious behavior.
As 2025 progresses, apparel’s bifurcation is likely to deepen, with off-price chains positioned to capture continued traffic gains from value-driven shoppers and even affluent consumers trading down. Luxury is likely to remain resilient among high-income households, but its reliance on a narrowing customer base may limit growth, leaving value-oriented retailers better positioned to capitalize on shifting consumer dynamics in the months ahead.
To see up-to-date retail traffic trends, visit our free tools.
Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.
The holiday shopping season traditionally stretches from Black Friday to New Years Eve: Shoppers looking to snag deals, purchase gifts, or enhance their celebrations drive visit spikes at retailers across the country. And although many consumers expressed concern over high prices impacting their holiday budget, spending in 2024 actually increased compared to 2023, with brick-and-mortar stores playing a key role in last year’s holiday season.
So where were the largest holiday spikes? How did last year’s calendar configuration impact retail traffic? Which segment came out ahead – and how did dining fit into the mix? Most importantly – what can we learn from the 2024 holiday season to prepare for 2025?
The holiday shopping season is the busiest time of the year for many retail categories. Between Black Friday and December 31st 2024, daily visits to brick-and-mortar stores increased 12.7%, on average, compared to the rest of the year.
Department stores led the pack, with visits to the segment 102.1% higher than the pre-holiday season average – likely aided by strong Black Friday performances. Other favorite gifting categories, including beauty & self care (72.7%), hobbies, gifts & crafts (60.9%), recreational & sporting goods (55.5%), clothing (41.8%), and electronics stores (32.7%) also received significant traffic boosts. Shopping centers benefited as well with a 24.8% increase in daily visits over the holiday season. Retailers in these segments can capitalize on their holiday popularity and stand out amidst the crowd by promoting their brand early and ensuring their staffing and inventory can accommodate the season’s traffic increases.
The holidays are also a time for entertainment – and purchasing gifts for hosts – which likely helped drive the 48.4% and 41.7% traffic increases at liquor stores and at furniture & home furnishings retailers, respectively. Superstores and discount & dollar stores – with their selection of affordable giftable products and entertainment essentials – also saw holiday-driven visit bumps of 21.2% and 20.2%, respectively. Retailers may choose to highlight seasonal items and hosting-friendly products to increase these traffic bumps in 2025.
Pet stores & services received a smaller (10.0%) bump than the wider retail average – indicating that, although some shoppers buy gifts for their fur babies, pets may not be at the top of most Americans’ gift lists. And visits to the home improvement segment were essentially on par with the pre-holiday period – indicating that the holidays are not the time for extensive home renovation projects. But home improvement chains looking to get in on the holiday action might consider promoting decorations and smaller giftable items in December.
And despite the grocery frenzy of Turkey Wednesday and Christmas Eve Eve, the Grocery segment received a relatively minor holiday boost of 5.0% – perhaps due to holiday travelers skipping their weekly grocery haul. Grocers who lean into prepared foods or pre-packaged meal kits might get an additional bump.
Although the holidays drive retail visit surges across the country, some regions see a bigger traffic bump than others.
In December 2024, almost all 50 states (with the exception of Wyoming ) received a holiday-driven retail traffic boost ranging from a 3.3% (Montana) to a 16.8% (New Hampshire). On a regional basis, the South received the largest increase: The West South Central, East South Central, and South Atlantic divisions received a collective 12.2% increase in daily visits between Black Friday and New Years Eve compared to the pre-Black Friday daily average. (Washington, D.C. saw a slight visit decline of 0.4%, likely due to the many residents leaving the capital for the holiday break.) Retailers in this region may choose to increase staffing and inventory ahead of the 2025 holiday season to handle the increased demand.
Meanwhile, the Midwest region had the smallest holiday-driven traffic spike (9.2%) – despite starting the season ahead of the pack, with the highest Black Friday weekend visit boost. This suggests that Midwestern retailers may have more success with early promotions than with last-minute discounts.
While the holiday season drove an overall retail visit boost nationwide, diving deeper into the data reveals that different retail segments peak at different points of the holiday season.
Most categories – especially the ones that tend to offer steep post-Thanksgiving discounts, such as recreational & sporting goods, department stores, electronics stores, and beauty retailers – received the biggest visit spikes on Black Friday. Retailers in these categories may benefit from promotional campaigns ahead of Thanksgiving to cater to early shoppers and maximize their performance on their busiest day.
Other segments that carry more affordable gifts, stocking stuffers, and food items gained momentum as Christmas approached – with superstores visits spiking on December 23rd and discount & dollar stores peaking on December 24th. These retailers may get even larger end-of-year visit bumps by offering discounts and bundles to last-minute shoppers.
The grocery segment received its largest boost ahead of Thanksgiving, with visits also surging on the days before Christmas as home cooks picked up supplies for the holiday dinner. Grocers who can save their shoppers time during this busy period by offering curbside pickup, pre-prepped ingredients or meal kits, and other conveniences may see particularly strong performances in 2025.
Calendar shifts also play an important role in shaping holiday shopping patterns. Last year, Super Saturday and “Christmas Eve Eve” – each a significant milestone in its own right – coincided on December 23rd, 2023 to create a supercharged shopping event that generated massive visit spikes at retailers across categories.
But in 2024, when the milestones occurred separately, important differences emerged between retailers. Gift-shopping destinations like Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Best Buy saw bigger visit spikes on Super Saturday, while retailers like Target, Walmart, and Costco – carrying both gifts and food items – saw visits surge higher on December 23rd. Dollar Tree, a prime destination for affordable stocking stuffers, also experienced a more pronounced visit spike on Super Saturday.
Predictably, this year’s pre-Christmas milestones generally drove smaller individual visit spikes, as shoppers spread their errands across a longer period. But the stand-alone Super Saturday on December 21st 2024 also allowed consumers to prioritize gift-shopping on Saturday and shop for groceries and last minute stocking stuffers on December 23rd – benefiting certain retailers.
Nordstrom, for instance, saw visits soar to 215.9% above the chain’s 2024 daily average on December 21, 2024 – surpassing the 196.2% increase recorded on December 23, 2023. Macy’s also experienced a slightly higher Super Saturday visit boost this year. Next year, retailers can expect another spread-out pre-Christmas shopping period, with Super Saturday falling on December 20th, 2025 – five days before the holiday. Gift-focused retailers can leverage this timing by ramping up promotions in the run-up to Super Saturday – or by enhancing offerings on December 23rd to capture more late-season shoppers.
Big box retailers like Target, Walmart, and Costco, conversely, can double down on December 23rd or amplify earlier deals to capture a larger share of Super Saturday traffic. And retailers across categories can benefit from the more extended last-minute shopping period by implementing multi-day sales and promotions that encourage repeat visits and drive traffic throughout the week.
Turkey Wednesday – the day before Thanksgiving – is traditionally the grocery sector’s time to shine. And this year didn’t disappoint: On November 27th, 2024, visits to traditional grocery mainstays like Kroger, Safeway, and H-E-B shot up by a remarkable 66.9% to 79.2% compared to the 2024 daily average. And on December 23rd, foot traffic to the chains rose once again, though somewhat more moderately, as shoppers geared up for Christmas celebrations.
But the holiday season stock-up, it turns out, is about more than just food. Whether to help smooth out the rough edges of family interactions or to take celebrations to the next level, consumers also make pre-holiday runs to liquor stores. On Turkey Wednesday, leading spirit purveyors outperformed traditional grocery stores with epic 140.1% to 236.5% visit spikes. And the day before Christmas Eve was an even bigger milestone for the segment, with foot traffic skyrocketing by a staggering 153.6% to 283.8% above daily averages.
Ethnic supermarkets – chains like El Super and Vallarta Supermarket – also thrived on these traditional pre-holiday grocery store milestones. But like liquor stores, they saw bigger visit spikes on December 23rd, as customers likely sought out ingredients for their festive holiday dinners.
Grocery stores seeking to maximize the power of these pre-holiday milestones in 2025 could enhance their liquor selections and launch targeted promotions in the lead-up to both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Dining venues are also impacted by the rhythms of the holiday season – but each segment within the dining industry follows its own unique seasonal trajectory.
Visits to the fast-casual, coffee, and fine-dining segments increased the week before Thanksgiving, with fast-casual and coffee visits peaking on Wednesday and fine-dining peaking on Thanksgiving day. Both coffee and fine-dining chains also received a small traffic bump on Black Friday, with coffee traffic likely aided by consumers looking to refuel during their shopping.
But beginning in mid-December, the fine-dining category pulled ahead of the other dining segments, picking up steam as the month wore on before peaking on December 23rd and 24th. And while traffic predictably declined on Christmas Day, the drop was less pronounced than for the other analyzed segments. Fine dining then resumed its strong showing on December 26th, maintaining elevated visits through the following days, potentially reflecting its appeal as a festive holiday dining destination for families.
Coffee chains and fast-casual restaurants also enjoyed moderately elevated December traffic, with smaller visit spikes on December 23rd. Traffic to both segments then slowed during the holiday – though coffee chains continued to see higher-than-average foot traffic on Christmas Eve – before tapering off as the month drew to a close.
Looking ahead to 2025, each dining segment can take steps to maximize its holiday impact. Fine dining chains can attract more special-occasion celebrants with unique holiday-themed menu items – paired with targeted promotions that make its premium offerings more accessible to families. Meanwhile, fast-casual and coffee chains can capitalize on high-traffic days like December 23rd by catering to the needs of busy holiday shoppers – extending operating hours and offering streamlined ordering and pickup options.
The 2024 holiday season proved strong for most retail categories, with each retail category displaying a different holiday visit pattern. This year’s calendar layout also presented a unique advantage, with a longer stretch between Super Saturday and Christmas compared to last year.
By analyzing 2024 holiday regional visit trends, understanding the role that each year’s specific calendar configuration plays in shaping consumer behavior, and identifying the unique retail milestones for each chain and category, retail and dining stakeholders can refine their strategies and make the most of the 2025 holiday season.
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.
Professional sports are big business – the industry is valued at nearly $1 billion in the United States alone. And beyond the economic impact of actual ticket sales and stadium and sponsorship gains, major sporting events can have significant impacts on local industries such as tourism, dining, and hospitality. Cities hosting sports events tend to see influxes of visitors who boost tourism, spend money at restaurants and hotels, and create ripple effects that benefit entire local economies.
The 2024 Copa América, typically held in South America but hosted in the United States this year, provides a prime example of the effect sports tourism can have on local economies. The games kicked off in Atlanta, Georgia on June 20th, 2024, before moving on to other host cities and boosting hospitality traffic along the way.
This white paper dives into the data to see how the games impacted hotel visits in cities across America – and especially in Atlanta. The report uncovers the hotel tiers and brands that saw the largest visit boosts and explores visitor demographics to better understand the audiences drawn to the event.
The Copa América took place in June and July 2024, with fourteen cities – mainly across the Sunbelt – hosting games. Thousands of fans attended each event, driving up demand in local hotel markets.
Arlington, TX, saw the largest hotel visit bump during the week it hosted the games, with hospitality traffic up 23.0% compared to the metro area's weekly January to September 2024 visit average. Orlando, FL, too, enjoyed a significant visit spike (22.1%), followed by Kansas City, KS-MO (17.4%).
The Atlanta metropolitan area, for its part, also saw a significant 11.0% increase in hotel visits during its hosting week compared to the city’s weekly visit average.
The Copa América games attracted fans from across the country – from as far away as Washington State and New Hampshire, as well as from neighboring states like Florida. On the day the tournament began, 26.1% of the domestic visitors to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium came from over 250 miles away, up from an average of 19.7% during the rest of the year (January to September 2024). These out-of-towners likely had a significant impact on Atlanta’s local economy – through spending on accommodations, dining, and entertainment.
During the week of the Copa América game, all of the analyzed hotel types in Atlanta received a visit bump. And while some of these visits were likely unrelated to the game, the massive scale of the event means that a significant share of the visit growth was likely driven by out-of-town soccer fans. Analyzing these patterns Atlanta can provide valuable insights for hospitality stakeholders looking to attract attendees of major sporting events.
Upper Midscale hotels saw the biggest boost during the week of the event, with visits 20.8% higher than the weekly visit average between January and September 2024. Midscale and Upscale hotels also experienced significant visit increases of 15.8% and 14.0%, respectively. During the same period, visits to Luxury hotels grew by 9.0% and Economy Hotel visits rose by 7.0% compared to the January to September 2024 weekly average. Meanwhile Upper Upscale Hotels received the smallest boost, with visits up by 2.9%.
Judging by these travel patterns, it appears that most Copa América spectators prefer to stay at Midscale, Upper Midscale, or Upscale hotels during the trip.
While Upper Midscale Hotels in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro area generally experienced the biggest visit boost during the Copa América, visit performance varied somewhat from chain to chain. TownePlace Suites and Fairfield Inn, both Upper Midscale Marriott properties, saw increases of 27.5% and 25.3%, respectively, compared to their January to September 2024 weekly averages. Other chains in the tier also enjoyed visit boosts – visits to Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hampton Inn – both Hilton chains – jumped by 17.3% and 17.4%, respectively, during the same period.
The popularity of these Upper Midscale hotels may be driven by a multitude of factors. Some, like TownePlace Suites and Home2 Suites offer kitchenettes, something that may appeal to visitors looking to save by preparing their own meals. Others, such as Fairfield Inn and Hampton Inn which offer more locations closer to the stadium may attract visitors that prioritize convenience.
Layering the STI: PopStats dataset onto Placer.ai’s captured market can provide insights into Copa América attendees by revealing the demographic attributes of census block groups (CBGs) contributing visitors to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (The CBGs feeding visitors to a chain or venue, weighted to reflect the share of visitors from each one, are collectively referred to as the business’ captured market.)
During the Copa América opener,Mercedes-Benz Stadium drew visitors from CBGs with a median household income (HHI) of $90.0K – well above the national median of $76.1K and similar to the median HHI during the Taylor Swift concert ($90.6K). The stadium’s trade area median HHI was even higher during the Super Bowl ($117.9K).
This visitor profile suggests that Copa América attendees – along with guests of other major cultural and sporting events – often have the means to splurge on comfortable, mid-range hotels for their stays. As Atlanta gears up to host the College Football National Championship in January 2025, the 62nd Super Bowl in February 2028, and the MLB All Star Game in July 2025, along with a host of smaller-scale events – the city can draw on historical data from past events, including the Copa América, to better understand the needs and preferences of stadium visitors and plan accordingly.
And although Upper Upscale hotels generally experienced relatively subdued growth during the Atlanta Copa América opener, some Upper Upscale properties – including Marriott’s Autograph Collection Twelve Downtown, saw visits jump. Visits to the hotel were up 19.7% during the week of the Copa América compared to the January to September 2024 weekly average.
The Twelve Downtown has become a popular lodging choice for major events in the city, likely due to its proximity to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (The hotel is located just over a mile away from the stadium). During the Super Bowl LIII five years ago, the Twelve Downtown drew 27.9% more visits than its weekly average for January to September 2019. And during the 2023 Taylor Swift concert, the hotel saw a 25.5% visit bump.
A closer look at the median HHI of the hotel’s captured market during the three periods reveals that, despite each event attracting visitors from varying income brackets, the median HHI of visitors to the Twelve Downtown remained stable. Visitors to the hotel between January and September 2024 came from trade areas where the median HHI was $76.2K, not far off from the median HHI during the 2019 Super Bowl ($75.4K), Taylor Swift’s 2023 concert ($80.6K) and the Copa América ($76.7K).
This stability suggests that, regardless of the event, hotels attract a specific visitor base. And understanding the similarities within the demographic profiles of likely hotel visitors during different events will be key for hotels at all levels seeking to capitalize on the economic opportunities created by major local events.
The Mountain region offers employment opportunities, affordable housing, outdoors recreation, and a relatively low cost of living – which could explain why these states are emerging as major domestic migration hubs. Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming in particular have consistently attracted inbound domestic migration in recent years, as Americans continue leaving higher density regions in search of greener – and calmer – pastures.
This report uses various datasets from the Placer.ai Migration Trends Report to analyze domestic migration to Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. Where are people coming from? And how is recent migration impacting local population centers in these states? Keep reading to find out.
Idaho emerged as a domestic migration hotspot over the pandemic, as many Americans freed from the obligation of in-person work relocated to the Gem State. Between June 2020 and June 2024, Idaho saw positive net migration of 4.7%, more than any other state in the U.S. (This metric measures the number of people moving to a state minus the number of people leaving – expressed as a percentage of the state’s total population.) And between 2023 and 2024, Idaho remained the nation’s top domestic migration performer (see map above).
Diving into the data reveals that though people moved to Idaho from across the U.S., most of Idaho’s influx over the past four years came from neighboring West Coast and Mountain States – especially California. Former residents of the Golden State accounted for a whopping 58.1% of inbound migrants to Idaho over the analyzed period.
California’s position as the top feeder of relocators to Idaho during the analyzed period may come as no surprise, given the state’s recent population outflow and the many former California residents who have settled in the Mountain region. But Washington, Oregon, and Nevada – where inbound and outbound migration remained relatively even in recent years – have also been seeing shifts to Idaho.
Idaho has a lower tax burden, robust employment opportunities, and greater overall affordability than its top four feeder states. So some of the recent relocators likely moved to the Gem State to enjoy better economic opportunities while staying relatively close to their states of origin. And these recent Idahoans may be reshaping Idaho’s demographic and economic landscape in the process.
Most inbound migration to Idaho is concentrated in the state’s metro areas, with Boise – the capital of Idaho and the major city closest to California – consistently absorbing the highest share of net inbound migration.
But recently, other CBSAs have emerged as key destinations for new Idahoans. The location of two emerging domestic relocation hubs in particular suggests that many new Idaho residents may be looking to stay close to their areas of origin: Coeur d’Alene, located near the border with Washington, attracts its largest contingent of new residents from the Spokane, WA metro area, while Twin Falls’ top feeder area is the Elko CBSA in northern Nevada.
Twin Falls in southern Idaho has a strong job market – and has received a substantial share of inbound domestic migration over the past three years. Coeur d’Alene is also flush with economic opportunities, and after declining steadily for several years, the share of relocators heading to the metro area increased to 20.7% between June 2023 and 2024.
The chart above also reveals that the share of inbound migration heading to Boise declined slightly between June 2023 and June 2024 – following a period of consistent growth between June 2020 and June 2023 – even as the share of migration to Coeur d’Alene ballooned. This may mean that, although the state’s largest metro area may have reached its saturation point, other areas in the state are still primed to receive inbound migration.
While Nevada is losing some of its population to nearby Idaho, the Silver State is also gaining new residents of its own: Between September 2020 and September 2024, the Silver State experienced positive net migration of 3.3%. And the data indicates that many new Nevadans are choosing to settle in the state's rapidly growing suburban centers.
Zooming into the Las Vegas-Henderson CBSA reveals that much of the growth is concentrated outside the main city of Las Vegas. Instead, the more suburban cities of Enterprise, Henderson, and North Las Vegas received the largest migration bump – with Henderson and North Las Vegas’ population now surpassing that of Reno. And while year-over-year migration trends suggest that the growth is beginning to stabilize, Enterprise and Henderson are still growing significantly faster than the CBSA as a whole – indicating that the suburbs continue to draw Nevada newcomers.
Analyzing the inbound domestic migration to Enterprise – one of the fastest growing areas in the country – may shed light on the aspects of suburban Las Vegas that are driving population growth.
Many new Enterprise residents moved to the city from elsewhere in Nevada, while most out-of-state newcomers came from California or Hawaii – mirroring the migration patterns for Nevada as a whole. And according to the Niche Neighborhood Grades dataset, Enterprise is a good fit for retirees and young professionals alike, with the city ranking higher than its feeder areas with regard to a range of factors – from jobs and commute to weather.
Like with migration to the rest of the Mountain region, domestic migration to Nevada – particularly to suburban areas like Enterprise and Henderson – is likely driven by newcomers looking for more economic opportunities along with higher quality of life.
Wyoming – currently the least populous state in the country – is another Mountain region state where inbound migration is driving up the population numbers. But in the Cowboy State, urban areas – as opposed to suburban ones – seem to be the main magnets for population growth.
The Cheyenne, Wyoming CBSA – home to Wyoming’s capital – is the largest metro area in the state. And analyzing the CBSA’s population trends over the past six years reveals a recent shift in Wyoming’s inbound migration patterns.
Cheyenne’s population is mostly suburban, and the CBSA’s suburban areas remain popular with newcomers – suburban Cheyenne has also seen steady population growth since January 2018. But when the CBSA became a popular relocation destination over the pandemic, many newcomers to the Cheyenne region chose to move to metro area’s more rural areas: By April 2022, Cheyenne’s rural population had jumped by 10.8% compared to a January 2018 baseline, compared to a 5.9% and 3.9% increase in the CBSA’s suburban and urban populations, respectively.
As the country opened back up, however, the number of rural Cheyenne residents dropped back down – and by September 2024, Cheyenne’s rural population was only 0.1% bigger than it had been in January 2018. The population growth in suburban Cheyenne also slowed down, with the September 2024 suburban population numbers more or less on par with the April 2022 figures.
Now, Cheyenne’s urban areas have overtaken both rural and suburban areas in terms of population growth: In September 2024, Cheyenne’s urban population was 9.4% bigger than in January 2018, compared to 5.2% and 0.1% growth for the suburban and urban areas, respectively.
Despite the growth in Cheyenne’s urban population, the suburbs still remain the most populous – as of September 2024, 71.2% of the CBSA’s population resided in suburban areas. But the continued growth of Cheyenne’s urban population may reflect a rising demand among Wyomingites for amenities and economic opportunities unavailable elsewhere in the state, mirroring the trend in Idaho’s urban CBSAs such as Boise and Coeur d'Alene.
Cheyenne’s urban growth could be partially due to shifts in migration patterns. At the height of the pandemic, most newcomers to Cheyenne were coming from out of state, perhaps drawn by the quiet and spaciousness of rural Wyoming. But since 2022, the share of migration to Cheyenne from within Wyoming has grown – coinciding with the population increase in its urban areas and suggesting that Cheyenne's amenities are attracting more residents statewide.
This growing intra-state migration to Cheyenne’s urban areas underscores the city’s evolving role as a hub within Wyoming, appealing not just to newcomers from outside the state but increasingly to Wyoming residents seeking the benefits of a more urban lifestyle relative to the rest of the state.
The Mountain States are solidifying their status as key migration hubs in the U.S., driven by economic opportunities, affordable living, and lifestyle appeal. Between September 2023 and September 2024, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming all experienced significant population growth due to inbound domestic migration. In Idaho, newcomers from neighboring states are boosting the population of the Gem State’s major metro areas. Meanwhile the Cheyenne, Wyoming, CBSA is emerging as a focal point for intra-state migration, with urban Cheyenne seeing particularly pronounced growth. And in Nevada, suburban hubs like Henderson and Enterprise are welcoming new arrivals seeking a balance of suburban comfort and economic potential. With the cost of living continuing to increase – and the Mountain region offering something for everyone through its various states – Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming are likely to remain top migration destinations in 2025 and beyond.
