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The fitness industry continues to thrive. Even as consumers reduce discretionary spending, many see gym memberships as an essential indulgence. And while value may be key for some fitness buffs, others are willing to splurge on pricier health clubs.
We dove into the data for two premium fitness chains – Life Time and Orangetheory – to better understand what’s driving their recent success.
It’s no secret that value has dominated the consumer mindset this summer – including in the fitness category. And low-cost chains like Crunch Fitness and Planet Fitness remain popular choices for gym-goers. Still, upscale gyms are carving out their share of visit gains.
Since April 2024, Life Time and Orangetheory have driven consistent year-over-year (YoY) visit growth. In Q2 2024, foot traffic increased 5.4% to Life Time and 7.8% to Orangetheory compared to 2023.
Life Time encourages community and aims to be more than just a place to exercise – which is reflected in the cost of membership. The luxurious amenities at its “athletic country clubs” are complemented by events and nearby coworking spaces and even residential complexes at some locations. And increased foot traffic suggests that more consumers are opting into Life Time’s lifestyle.
Orangetheory takes a different approach to fitness. Aside from a premium membership tier which offers unlimited classes, the Orangetheory model allows members to pay monthly for a set number of guided workouts at its boutique-style gyms. Orangetheory prices aren’t cheap, but considering the personal attention and real-time biofeedback gym-goers enjoy, it’s no wonder the concept is resonating with consumers.
Digging deeper into the data reveals that visitors to Life Time and Orangetheory are highly engaged with the brands, frequently visiting the club or taking regular classes. And the more members are engaged, the more likely they are to renew or upgrade memberships.
In Q2 2024, 86.0% of Life Time’s visits were made by frequent visitors (those that visited at least four times a month) – a higher share than that of value fitness chains (78.3%).
Meanwhile, 63.0% of Orangetheory’s visits came from frequent visitors. This slightly lower share may be due to the fact that Orangetheory offers pre-purchased class packs – which allow gym-goers to spread out their workouts over a longer period of time. And this allows Orangetheory to drive traffic from casual gym-goers who may avoid monthly gym memberships altogether.
While Life Time and Orangetheory experience different shares of frequent visits, analyzing the demographic characteristics of each provides further insight into the audiences from which they drive traffic.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Life Time’s captured market featured the largest share of high-income households in Q2 2024 (i.e. those with HHIs above $150K), followed by Orangetheory. And value gyms were more likely to draw consumers with HHIs below $100K.
But notably, Life Time, Orangetheory, and value gyms all drew diverse audiences. Some 40.5% of Life Time’s captured market was made up of households with HHIs below $100K – while 19.7% of value gyms’ captured markets were made up of households with HHIs over $150K. And the captured markets of all three had similar shares of households making between $100K and $150K.
So while the highest income consumers may be most likely to visit the upscale chains, those making $100K-$150K are almost as likely to visit a value-focused gym.
Value-focused gyms and upscale health clubs each have a place in the wide fitness landscape, with demand for both growing strong. Will the industry continue to be a winner as 2024 comes to a close?
Visit Placer.ai to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
Convenience stores, or c-stores, have been one of the more exciting retail categories to watch over the past few years. The segment has undergone significant shifts, embracing more diverse offerings like fresh food and expanded dining options, while also exploring new markets and adapting to changing consumer needs.
We took a closer look at how the segment is faring as Q3 2024 draws to a close.
Convenience stores are increasingly viewed not only as places to fuel up, but as affordable destinations for quick meals, snacks, and other necessities. And analyzing monthly visits to the category shows that it is continuing to benefit from its positioning as a stop for food, fuel, and in some cases, tourism.
Despite lapping a strong H1 2023, visits to the category either exceeded last year’s levels or held steady during all but one of the first eight months of 2024 – highlighting the segment’s ongoing strength. Only in January 2024 did C-stores see a slight YoY dip, likely reflecting a weather-induced exaggeration of the segment’s normal seasonality.
Indeed, examining monthly fluctuations in visits to c-stores (compared to a January 2021 baseline) shows that foot traffic to the category tends to peak in summer months – perhaps driven by summer road trips and vacations – and slow down significantly in winter. Given summer’s importance for convenience stores, the category’s August YoY visit bump is a particularly promising indication of c-stores’ robust positioning this year.
While some C-store chains, like 7-Eleven, have a nationwide presence, others are concentrated in specific areas of the country. But as the popularity of C-stores continues to grow, regional chains like Wawa, Buc-ee’s, and Sheetz are expanding into new territories, broadening their reach.
Wawa, a beloved brand with roots in Pennsylvania, has become synonymous with its fresh sandwiches, coffee, and a highly loyal customer base. Wawa has been a major player in the c-store space in recent years, with a revamped menu driving ever-stronger foot traffic to its Mid-Atlantic region stores. Between January and August 2024, YoY visits to the chain were mostly elevated. And the chain is now venturing into states like Florida – where its store count has grown significantly over the past few years – as well as Georgia and Alabama.
Meanwhile, Texas favorite Buc-ee’s, though known for its enormous stores and mind boggling array of dining options, has a relatively small footprint – but that might be changing. The chain, which also outpaced its already-strong 2023 performance this year, is opening locations in Arkansas and North Carolina, further building on its reputation as a destination for travelers. And Sheetz, another regional chain with a strong presence in Pennsylvania, is also expanding, with plans to open locations in Southern states like North Carolina and Tennessee.
This trend toward regional expansion offers significant opportunities for growth, not only by increasing store count, but also by reaching new consumer bases and target audiences. Customer behavior differs between markets – and by expanding into new areas, c-stores can tap into unique local visitation patterns.
One metric that highlights local differences in consumer behavior is dwell time, or the amount of time a customer spends inside a convenience store per visit. In some regions, visitors tend to move in and out quickly, while in others, customers linger for longer periods of time.
Analyzing convenience store dwell times by state highlights substantial differences in visitor behavior. During the first eight months of 2024, coastal states (with the exception of Oregon) tended to see shorter average dwell times (between 7.5 and 11.8 minutes). On the other hand, in states like Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota, average dwell times ranged between 21.2 and 28.2 minutes.
Interestingly, the states with the longest dwell times also have some of the highest percentages of truck traffic on interstate highways – suggesting that these longer stops are perhaps made by long-haul truckers looking for a place to shower, relax, and grab a bite to eat.
Even as regional favorites expand their reach, nationwide classic 7-Eleven is taking steps to further cement its growing role as a prime grab-and-go food and beverage destination. And like other dining destinations, the chain relies on limited-time offers (LTOs) to fuel excitement – and visits.
One of the most iconic, and beloved c-store LTOs is 7-Eleven’s Slurpee Day, which falls each year on July 11th. The event, during which all 7-Eleven locations hand out free slurpees, tends to drive significant upticks in foot traffic – and this year was no exception. Visits to the convenience store jumped by a whopping 127.3% on July 11th, 2024 relative to the YTD daily visit average – proving that good deals will bring customers in the door.
The convenience store sector continues building on the impressive growth seen in 2023. As many chains double down on expanding both their regional presence and their offerings, will they continue to drive growth in the coming years?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven convenience store updates.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a major player in the restaurant industry, operating restaurants across a wide range of dining styles and price points. Recently, Darden announced plans to acquire Tex-Mex chain Chuy’s, a move that would add some 100 new locations across 16 states to the Darden portfolio.
We took a closer look at how the dining brand has performed over the past few months, and dug deeper into what impact the Chuy’s acquisition might have on Darden.
Darden's 2024 performance has been strong, with only three months – January, April, and July – showing YoY visit declines. January’s 2.9% decline was likely driven by unseasonably cold weather, while Easter weekend shifted visits across multiple retail categories in April 2024. And though July visits experienced a modest dip of 0.5% YoY, the drop was quickly offset by a 5.1% YoY increase in August.
This trend points to a recovery in consumer dining behavior, particularly in the full-service restaurant sector, where growth is being driven by consumers opting for higher-quality dining experiences over fast food options.
Darden owns and operates nearly 2,000 restaurants nationwide. Its three core brands – Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen make up the bulk of these locations.
All three restaurant chains enjoyed overall positive momentum over the past few months, with LongHorn emerging as a standout performer. The chain saw its foot traffic increase in all months analyzed, with August 2024 visits elevated by 10.4% YoY.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and Olive Garden, too, experienced growth in all but two of the analyzed months, with August 2024 visits elevated by 3.1% and 6.9%, respectively, YoY. These trends point to consistent – and perhaps growing – consumer demand, a solid position as the holiday season approaches.
In July 2024, Darden announced its intention to acquire Chuy’s, an Austin-based Tex-Mex chain, a move that could add 101 stores to Darden’s already extensive portfolio. And while the acquisition is still pending, digging into the demographic and psychographic data offers some insight into what might make Chuy’s at home with the Darden family.
One defining factor of Darden’s restaurant portfolio might be its range – the chain offers dining options that appeal to people across a variety of income brackets. Its core brands – Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Olive Garden – cater to a customer base with household incomes similar to the nationwide median of $76.1K. But Darden’s broader portfolio includes several chains that appeal to wealthier patrons – visitors to Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, for example, came from trade areas where the median household income (HHI) was $105K.
Chuy’s visitor base, meanwhile, hails from trade areas with a median HHI of $86.2K. So the addition might help the restaurant group build on its core audience while appealing to higher-income diners who may be looking to “trade down” to a more casual, affordable meal without compromising on quality. This alignment allows Chuy’s to seamlessly fit within Darden's strategy, providing a diverse range of dining experiences while expanding its reach into higher-income markets.
Darden’s acquisition of Chuy’s also appears to be a strategic play to attract younger diners, a segment that continues to drive interest in Mexican and Teex-Mex cuisine. And examining the demographics of visitors across all Darden brands reveals that Chuy’s is particularly popular among “Young Professionals”, with 9.4% of its diners coming from trade areas classified as such by the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset.
As young diners continue to be a category of interest for Darden, the Chuy’s acquisition may be the ticket to Darden maintaining its visit dominance in the coming years.
Darden continues to drive foot traffic across its wide portfolio of brands, offering something for every kind of diner. With plans to expand its core audience underway, will the restaurant group continue to improve its monthly visits?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven dining news.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
How did the Placer 100 Index for Retail & Dining fare in August 2024? We dove into the data to find out.
The final days of summer were a critical retail moment, with all eyes on back-to-school traffic performance. Analyzing year-over-year (YoY) foot traffic performance for the Placer 100 Index for Retail and Dining shows that since May 2024, visits have been on a positive growth trajectory – reaching a summer highpoint of 3.0% in August.
Back to school, it seems, was a significant driver of retail and dining foot traffic. And recent indications that consumer confidence has turned a corner may bode well for the fast-approaching holiday season.
How much of an impact did back-to-school activity have on retail and dining visits in August 2024? Further analysis of the Placer 100 Index reveals that the top-performing metro areas last month were college towns, which suggests that a surge in students out and about – shopping for back-to-school essentials and dining out – was a likely driver of local foot traffic.
The State College, PA Metro Area, home to Penn State University, for example, saw a 14.5% YoY change in overall retail and dining visits in August 2024. And other college towns with large student populations were also top YoY visit performers during the month. Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA (14.2%), home to Virginia Tech, Ithaca, NY (12.1%), home to Cornell University, and Bloomington, IN (12.1%), home to Indiana University Bloomington – to name a few – all experienced significant visit growth compared to August 2023.
While the Placer 100 Index experienced foot traffic gains last month, digging deeper into the data reveals that in August 2024 consumers continued to prioritize value as they dined and shopped.
In addition to rapidly growing discount grocer Aldi, four value-focused chains were among August 2024’s top YoY visit performers. Five Below (17.5%), Big Lots (15.7%), HomeGoods (13.8%), and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (13.7%) all showed impressive YoY traffic – and three out of the four were also among the top chains in terms of YoY visit-per-location growth.
One of the biggest YoY visits and visits-per-location winners in August 2024 was Big Lots, which recently announced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings and an ownership transition while continuing to rightsize. With soon-to-be-closed locations offering steep markdowns, the chain has been driving significant traffic. And since Big Lots offers small-ticket items as well as big-ticket home furnishings, a back-to-school push likely contributed to the chain’s jump in August visits.
HomeGoods was also among the top chains in August 2024, with both YoY visits and visits-per-location (9.8%) growth. The chain’s social media campaign featuring college students furnishing their living spaces appears to have buoyed foot traffic during the homestretch of back-to-school shopping.
With summer in the rearview mirror, the focus shifts to fall and the fast-approaching holiday season. Will retail and dining visits sustain their momentum in the critical months ahead?
Visit Placer.ai to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
The return to office (RTO) has been on an upswing, with employers across industries cracking down on remote work and requiring employees to put in more face time. Indeed, July 2024 emerged as the busiest in-office month since the pandemic. But what happened in August?
We dove into the data to find out.
August is a time for family vacations – and millions of Americans planned to take the roads and skies this summer to get away from it all and enjoy some downtime. So it may come as no surprise that the accelerated mandate-driven RTO seen in recent months – moderated somewhat in August, with a larger visit gap compared to the equivalent period of 2019 than that seen in July or in June.
Still, despite an end-of-summer slump, the nationwide office recovery appears to be very much underway. Office foot traffic last month was just 31.2% below pre-pandemic levels. Or put another way, August 2024 office visits were 68.8% of what they were in August 2019.
Drilling down into the data for major urban hubs throughout the country shows a continuation of recent trends, with Miami, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas outperforming the nationwide baseline. In Miami and New York, office visits were nearly 90.0% and 85.0%, respectively, of what they were pre-pandemic. And Atlanta, where employers from the CDC to UPS have begun enforcing stricter in-office policies, held onto its high ranking, with visits 75.6% of what they were in August 2019.
Indeed, Atlanta, which has seen a surge in office leasing activity, saw 7.3% year-over-year (YoY) visit growth in August 2024 – followed by Miami (5.7%). San Francisco – which despite lagging behind other cities compared to pre-pandemic, has been making steady YoY gains – came in third with a YoY visit increase of 3.0%.
Who are the employees driving this summer’s accelerated recovery?
Analyzing the trade areas of office buildings nationwide reveals that between June and August 2024, the Census Block Groups (CBGs) feeding visits to office buildings (their captured markets) continued to see a decline in their share of households with children – indicating that parents still account for fewer office visits than they did pre-pandemic. Employees with children, it seems, remain especially likely to place a premium on flexibility – embracing work routines that allow them to more efficiently juggle home and work responsibilities.
Over the same period, the share of one-person households in offices’ captured markets rose substantially, highlighting the important role played by young professionals – who may be more likely to be single – in today’s office recovery. Whether driven by a desire to embrace in-office career growth and mentorship opportunities, or by a craving for more social interaction, these employees are returning to the office in ever greater numbers.
With the school year underway and summer vacations already a not-so-distant memory, office foot traffic is likely to resume its upward trajectory. Will September 2024 set a new post-pandemic RTO record?
Follow Placer.ai’s data driven analyses to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
Malls ended summer with a bang. In May and June 2024, indoor malls, open-air shopping centers and outlet malls all experienced year-over-year (YoY) visit growth, with indoor malls – which offer an escape from the sweltering heat – leading the way.
In July 2024, all three mall types experienced slight YoY visit gaps. But these were likely due to a calendar shift rather than to any flagging back-to-school momentum: July 2024 contained one less Saturday and Sunday than the equivalent period of 2023, when malls draw some of their biggest crowds. (In January-August 2024, weekends accounted for 39.0% of visits to indoor malls, 35.6% for open-air shopping centers, and 43.0% for outlet malls.) This shift, which likely had the most pronounced impact on outlet malls, may have obscured stronger YoY performance in July 2024.
And this year’s intense weather didn’t stop consumers from visiting malls in droves to take advantage of back-to-school shopping – which was in full swing by August 2024. That month saw the most substantial YoY foot traffic growth of the analyzed period, with YoY visit increases of 7.3% for indoor malls, 5.8% for open-air shopping centers, and 6.1% for outlet malls.
Who shopped at malls in August 2024? With back-to-school shopping being a significant motivator for consumers, it may come as no surprise that college students and families with children were overrepresented among end-of-summer mall hoppers – though not for all mall types.
Analysis of all three mall segments’ captured markets reveals that in August 2024, the share of college students in the trade areas of indoor malls and open-air shopping centers exceeded the nationwide average by 67% and 170%, respectively. These malls may be popular with college students due to their greater accessibility for students without cars, and for their recreational atmosphere – making them a good place to catch up with friends while shopping.
Meanwhile, the captured markets of outlet malls included slightly higher-than-average shares of households with children, perhaps as families on tight back-to-school budgets prioritized steep discounts. Indoor malls were also slightly more likely than average to draw this demographic.
With Summer 2024 in the books, it’s fair to say that mall foot traffic thrived during this critical retail season. How will mall visits shape up come spring?
Visit Placer.ai to find out.
This blog includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.1, which introduces a new dynamic model that stabilizes daily fluctuations in the panel, improving accuracy and alignment with external ground truth sources.
Physical retail is increasingly defined by a small group of dominant players – Walmart, Target, Costco Wholesale, and Dollar General – that span grocery, essentials, and discretionary categories at a scale no other retailers can match. These chains serve as bellwethers of consumer behavior, revealing where Americans are spending, how often they shop, and what drives their decisions. And understanding their visitation patterns sheds light on the key dynamics shaping both their performance and the broader blueprint for retail success in 2026.
Retail giants Walmart, Target, Costco Wholesale, and Dollar General continue to capture a growing share of brick-and-mortar visits nationwide.
• The share of physical retail traffic captured by these giants rose from 16.8% in 2019 to 17.5% in Q1 2026, signaling continued sector consolidation.
• The scale advantage enjoyed by retail giants is increasingly self-reinforcing: Larger players benefit from superior data, stronger vendor leverage, and operational efficiencies that in turn further widen the gap.
• As these advantages compound, direct competition becomes less viable. Instead, smaller retailers should focus on owning specific trip missions – such as convenience, fill-in, or discovery – where format, assortment curation, and in-store experience can more directly shape consumer choice.
• For CRE operators, the growing dominance of these retail giants increases reliance on top-tier anchors, potentially driving performance gaps between centers with strong national tenants and those without.
• For CPG companies, the consolidation in the offline retail space heightens channel concentration, making success with a handful of large retailers critical while increasing those retailers’ negotiating leverage.
Traffic trends across the four giants reveal meaningful divergence in performance.
• Costco and Dollar General are driving the strongest visit growth, supported by both substantial fleet expansions and rising visits per location. In 2025, visits per store exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 18.1% for Costco and 10.2% for Dollar General, with both brands also seeing steady increases in their share of total brick-and-mortar retail chain visits.
• Walmart remains the largest player by far, accounting for 9.7% of traffic to major brick-and-mortar chains in 2025. And though the behemoth’s share of visits declined slightly in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, it has held steady over the past three years.
• Target’s visit share has remained relatively flat over the past three years, reflecting stalled momentum. Still, early 2026 trends point to emerging signs of recovery – with Q1 visits up 8.3% compared to Q1 2019.
• Value retail is winning, but in more specialized forms: Dollar General (extreme value + convenience) and Costco (bulk value + loyalty) are driving the strongest traffic growth and rising visits per store, while Walmart’s broad “everyday value” remains steady with slower growth. Target, for its part, is lagging – likely a reflection of the broader bifurcation in retail which has left middle-market players caught between consumers trading down to value and those trading up to quality.
• For retailers and CPG companies, the broader lesson is that value perception is becoming more nuanced. It’s no longer just about offering low prices at scale, but about how value is delivered – whether through small packs vs. bulk, or quick trips vs. stock-up missions. Success increasingly depends on prioritizing these distinct value formats and investing in channels where store-level productivity is improving.
• For CRE operators, the outperformance of retailers with clearly defined value propositions underscores the importance of mission-driven tenant mix. As shoppers visit with increasingly specific missions in mind, retailers that cater to those missions are outperforming. Tenant strategies should reflect this shift, ensuring complementary offerings that reinforce a cohesive shopping mission.
Walmart remains the dominant brick-and-mortar retailer nationwide and across all fifty states. Still, the data suggests there is room for multiple runners-up to succeed across geographies and customer segments.
• Dollar General, Target, and Costco each attract distinct audience segments. Dollar General attracts a disproportionately high share of the “Mature and Retired Living” segment, while Costco leads among family households, with Target also over-indexing with this group. Among younger “Contemporary Households,” meanwhile – a segment encompassing singles, married couples without children, and non-family households – Target commands the highest share, slightly over-indexing compared to the nationwide baseline.
• Regional strengths vary significantly, with Dollar General concentrated in the South, Costco dominant in the Northwest, and Target showing more dispersed areas of strength.
• Despite similar overall visit share, Dollar General leads in more states (26 vs. 17 for Target), reflecting broader geographic dominance.
• For retailers, the data suggests that growth opportunities are increasingly shaped by localized demographic and geographic dynamics – meaning that targeted, market-specific strategies may be more effective than uniform national approaches.
• Younger “Contemporary Households” remain less locked-in than older demographics, representing a key battleground for future growth.
• For CPG companies, this data highlights that channel strategy is really about building the right mix of retailers, since even large national players reach different types of consumers.
• CRE operators should ask "which anchor is right for this trade area" rather than "which anchor is strongest," as mismatched tenants can underperform even if they’re nationally dominant.
After remaining essentially flat in 2025, average visits per location to Walmart grew 3.5% YoY in Q1 2026. And the retailer’s solid Q1 performance across the U.S. underscores its unique ability to resonate across income levels, geographies, and shopping missions.
• Walmart posted year-over-year visit growth across nearly all U.S. markets in Q1 2026, reinforcing its role as a universally relevant retailer.
• The giant’s comparative softness in small parts of the Northeast suggests an opportunity to double down on region-specific assortments, urban-friendly formats, or partnerships to better match local shopping behaviors.
• Walmart’s broad-based growth shows that even as consumers are increasingly willing to visit multiple retailers to get what they want, its Superstore model has solidified its role as a primary stop on the American shopping journey – making it a uniquely reliable anchor for CRE operators.
• For smaller retailers, this underscores the opportunity to win the “second stop” – capturing trips through curated assortments and more tailored in-store experiences that Walmart’s scale is less optimized to deliver.
• For CPG companies, Walmart stands out as a highly attractive partner for broad, efficient reach, given its consistent traffic across markets.
Target’s recent performance suggests early momentum in reversing prior softness.
• Q1 2026 visits to Target rose 5.1% year over year, marking the chain’s first positive visit growth in more than a year, and suggesting that the chain’s new turnaround strategy may be bearing fruit.
• Gains were driven primarily by visits lasting 30 to 45 minutes, which accounted for 19.6% of overall visits to Target in Q1 2026 – pointing to stronger in-store engagement rather than quick, mission-driven stops.
• Target’s return to traffic growth – driven by increases in mid-length trips – signals a sustainable recovery on the horizon, strengthening its reliability as a traffic-driving tenant for CRE operators.
• Target's turnaround shows retailers how increasing shopper engagement can generate growth by converting quick trips into higher-value, multi-category experiences.
• For CPG companies, the rise in mid-length visits indicates a more receptive in-store environment for discovery and trade-up, making Target an increasingly attractive channel for innovation, merchandising, and premium offerings.
Dollar General is becoming embedded in consumers’ daily routines.
• Visitor frequency to Dollar General is on the rise. In Q1 2026, nearly a quarter of visitors frequented the chain at least four times in an average month, up from 21.2% in Q1 2022.
• Dollar General is becoming increasingly local in nature: As its footprint expands, more visits originate nearby, with 28.0% coming from within one mile – reinforcing its role as a neighborhood store of choice.
• Dollar General’s visitation patterns point to a growing ownership of the convenience mission. Its expanding store density is creating a self-reinforcing network effect, where proximity fuels frequency, and frequency strengthens long-term defensibility.
• For retailers, Dollar General’s rising share of nearby and high-frequency visits shows that proximity can drive habit, making convenience a powerful lever for building repeat behavior.
• For CRE operators, the data highlights the strength of hyper-local, necessity-driven traffic, positioning Dollar General as a stable tenant that anchors consistent, repeat visitation.
• For CPG professionals, the increase in frequent trips signals a high-velocity purchase environment, favoring smaller pack sizes and products that align with regular replenishment cycles.
Costco continues to grow and diversify its audience despite higher membership fees and stricter food court access policies, highlighting the strength of its value proposition and loyalty model.
• In September 2024, Costco raised its membership fees for the first time in seven years – and more recently tightened enforcement of member-only access to its food courts. Despite these changes, visitation has remained strong, highlighting the company’s pricing power and deep customer loyalty.
• At the same time, Costco’s shopper base is broadening, with median household income trending slightly downward while remaining relatively affluent.
• Offering strong value to a relatively affluent consumer base can be a winning formula in 2026. Retailers that combine quality, trust, and perceived savings – rather than competing solely on low prices – are well positioned to drive both loyalty and sustained traffic growth.
• For CRE operators, Costco’s sustained traffic growth and broadening shopper base reinforce its value as a standalone, high-demand traffic magnet that can anchor entire trade areas and drive surrounding retail development.
• For CPG companies, the combination of high traffic and declining median HHI signals that Costco is evolving into a scaled channel reaching beyond affluent shoppers, requiring more diversified assortment and pricing strategies.
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It’s been decades since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup, and anticipation continues to build. While the matches themselves will deliver thrilling moments for fans inside the stadium, a far broader audience is expected to engage from beyond the gates – gathering at bars, watch parties, and living rooms across the country.
Drawing on insights from recent sporting and cultural events, this analysis examines how the World Cup may impact consumer behavior and audiences across stadiums, host cities, and nationwide.
In 2025, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ hosted a wide range of concerts and sporting events. And an examination of three – Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s tour stop, the FIFA Club World Cup Final, and a Week 17 New York Jets matchup against division rivals and the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots – reveals clear differences in audience composition across event types.
Trade area analysis showed that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final drew the largest share of single visitors and the highest median household income (HHI) of the three events – a pattern that could reflect the premium tickets and travel typically associated with a quadrennial championship match.
With the 2026 World Cup elevating the level of global competition, stadiums set to host matches this summer – including MetLife – may see even more dramatic shifts in their audience relative to other events.
While spectators attending World Cup matches are likely to differ from those drawn to other events throughout the year, audience shifts are likely to occur also within the tournament itself. As the competition progresses and the stakes rise, the visitor profile at host stadiums may trend progressively higher-income, as suggested by an analysis of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA during the recent NFL season and Super Bowl.
During the Super Bowl, the stadium’s captured market median HHI surpassed that of every 49ers home game during the 2025-26 season – a pattern consistent with the event’s premium ticket pricing, national draw, and high levels of out-of-market travel.
And since the World Cup only takes place every four years, and necessitates international travel for die-hard fans, attendees are likely to be even more affluent than Super Bowl go-ers. Moreover, as the tournament reaches its later stages, each match becomes more significant and carries the potential to drive an even more affluent in-person audience.
Diving deeper into last year’s FIFA Club World Cup Final and Semifinal matches at MetLife Stadium provides further insight into the significance of the in-person audience that doesn’t make it into the stands. While FIFA generally places restrictions on tailgating, the behavior was still observed at MetLife and several other tournament venues in 2025. To put the phenomenon into perspective, location intelligence indicates that on the day of the Club World Cup final, combined visits to MetLife and its parking lots were 24.8% higher than visits to the stadium alone.
AI-powered trade area analysis further contextualizes the economic significance of this audience. During the semifinal matches, MetLife Stadium’s captured market median HHI remained nearly identical – just over $100K – with and without parking lot visitors. A similar pattern held for the Final, where median HHI for both the stadium-only and combined stadium-plus-parking visitors both rose above $115K, with the stadium-only figure only marginally higher.
This suggests that tailgaters represent a significant cohort with discretionary income to spend on the broader match-day experience, even if they opt out of spending big money on tickets.
With tailgating during the 2026 World Cup likely to remain limited due to FIFA regulations, the spending power of fans just outside the stadiums could create opportunities for alternative forms of engagement. Fan zones and other nearby hospitality events may offer effective ways to capture demand.
Nearby dining and entertainment venues are among the most accessible experiences for fans in the stadium area, and these stand to benefit significantly from elevated game-day foot traffic.
Analysis of recent FIFA Club World Cup matches reveals the impact of match-day activity on local businesses. Visitor journey data from the June 25th, 2025 matchup between Inter Milan and River Plate at Seattle’s Lumen Field, and the June 28th, 2025 meeting between Palmeiras and Botafogo at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia reveals that a significant share of stadium visitors also stopped at nearby dining and recreation venues on the day. Location intelligence also shows that, on the day of the match, each stadium-adjacent venue received a significant visit boost compared to its 2025 daily average.
This pattern underscores the potential impact of the World Cup on the surrounding commercial ecosystem. The stadium may anchor the experience, but fan engagement will likely spill into adjacent areas – creating opportunities for both organizers and local businesses. To take full advantage, restaurants and bars can position themselves as fan-friendly destinations through watch parties, extended hours, and even mobile or outdoor offerings in stadium corridors.
Previous major sporting events – including the Super Bowl – demonstrate that the impact of large-scale sporting moments often extends beyond the immediate stadium vicinity into the broader regional economy.
In the weeks leading up to the latest Super Bowl in Santa Clara, CA on February 8th, 2026, both the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkley and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CBSAs saw a notable uptick in year-over-year dining traffic – outperforming the nationwide average. The timing suggests that early-arriving travellers combined with locals enjoying pre-event concerts and events helped fuel demand. In contrast, nationwide dining traffic saw a more pronounced lift the following week – likely tied to Valentine’s Day on February 14.
This pattern indicates that regions hosting – or located near – World Cup 2026 matches could experience similar pre-event dining tailwinds. As out-of-town visitors arrive and local engagement builds in the days and weeks leading up to key matches, restaurants and hospitality may benefit from elevated demand – particularly when supported by ancillary events and fan experiences.
Other recent examples suggest that cities hosting major events like the World Cup stand to benefit from an influx of out-of-town visitors – particularly those with higher spending power.
Since the beginning of 2025, New Orleans has hosted a series of popular events that drove significant non-local traffic. AI-powered trade area data indicates that during these periods, out-of-market visitors consistently exhibited a higher median HHI than both local residents and typical commuters into the city.
As expected, the 2025 Super Bowl generated the most pronounced spike in out-of-market visitor median HHI among the events analyzed, but the pattern extends beyond one-time spectacles. Recurring events like Mardi Gras and major music festivals also attracted high-income visitors to the city – likely benefitting the local hospitality, dining, and retail industries.
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, host cities are likely to experience a similar dynamic. The tournament’s global draw will likely bring affluent travelers with discretionary dollars to the host regions – visitors that will spend not only on match tickets, but also on accommodation, dining, and shopping. By sponsoring tournament-related festivals, concerts, and experiences in or near retail corridors, cities can amplify the economic impact of the World Cup beyond the stadium.
The impact of the 2026 World Cup is unlikely to be confined to the select cities hosting matches. Major sporting events drive large-scale at-home viewership, generating ripple effects nationwide.
The Super Bowl offers a useful benchmark. In the days leading up to February 8th, 2026, visits to grocery stores and pizza chains rose above day-of-week averages for 2025, ultimately peaking on the day of the big game day as households appeared to pick up last-minute fixings and takeout for their watch parties.
This pattern indicates that the World Cup – with its extended schedule and multiple high-stakes matchups – could drive repeated waves of elevated grocery and take-out demand as fans gather together throughout the tournament.
Of course, at-home viewing is just one piece of the match-day equation. Many fans opt for a more communal experience – gathering at sports bars across the country to watch the game alongside fellow supporters.
Recent highly-anticipated soccer matches offer a clear signal of this behavior. During the recent Allstate Continental Clásico, MLS Cup Final, and SheBelieves Cup Final, top sports bars in key markets like Los Angeles and Miami recorded visit spikes above day-of-week averages.
Not every World Cup fan will be able to attend in-person or travel to a host city, but previous match-day lifts in sports bar traffic demonstrate that fans nationwide will participate in the tournament experience.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to engage a wide spectrum of fans – from casual viewers at home to dedicated supporters traveling to stadiums – shaping how and where demand emerges.
As a result, the tournament’s impact will be felt across multiple layers of retail, dining, and tourism. Stadium-centered spending, activity in surrounding corridors, host-city consumer demand, and gatherings of spectators nationwide all point to a broad and interconnected World Cup effect that is likely to shape both audience composition and behavior at scale.
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Indoor malls and open-air centers have posted consistent YoY visit growth, outlet declines have been modest, and early 2026 data shows renewed momentum across all three formats.
Growth in short visits and extended stays – alongside declines in mid-length trips – shows that consumers are gravitating toward trips with a clear purpose, favoring either efficiency or immersion.
Rising dwell times and strong engagement from younger, contemporary households position indoor malls as leading destinations for longer, experience-driven trips.
A higher share of short, weekday visits – along with strong appeal among affluent families – underscores their role as convenient, essential retail hubs.
As off-price and online alternatives erode their treasure-hunt advantage and long-distance visitation softens, outlets face a strategic choice between deepening local relevance and reinvesting in destination appeal.
The malls that thrive will be those that intentionally optimize for convenience, experience, or a disciplined integration of both.
Despite economic headwinds, intensifying e-commerce competition, and fragile consumer confidence, shopping centers continue to defy the “dead mall” narrative – reinventing themselves and, in many cases, thriving.
What can location analytics tell us about the state of the mall in 2026? Which trends and audiences are driving their performance – and how can operators and retailers best capitalize on the opportunities within the category?
Over the past two years, both indoor malls and open-air shopping centers have posted consistent year-over-year (YoY) traffic growth. And while outlet malls experienced slight declines, the pullback was modest – signaling a period of stability rather than erosion.
Early 2026 data also points to continued momentum, with all three mall formats recording mid-single-digit YoY traffic gains in the first two months of the year. Although it’s still early days – and YoY comparisons in 2026 were boosted by an additional Saturday – the positive start suggests that the industry is entering the year on a solid footing.
With e-commerce always within reach, hybrid work anchoring more consumers at home, and ongoing economic uncertainty influencing spending decisions, trips to physical stores are becoming more intentional. Shopping center visit data reflects this shift as well, with growth in both quick convenience visits and extended experiential outings – alongside a decline in mid-length trips.
In 2025, quick trips (under 30 minutes) increased across all formats, underscoring malls’ growing role as convenient, high-utility destinations for picking up an online order, grabbing a quick bite, or making a targeted purchase. At the same time, extended visits of more than 75 minutes increased at indoor malls and open-air centers, reflecting sustained appetite for immersive, experiential outings.
Meanwhile, mid-length visits (between 30 and 75 minutes) lagged across formats – falling indoor malls and outlet malls and remaining flat at open-air centers – suggesting shoppers are losing patience with undifferentiated trips that lack a clear purpose.
Still, although short visits increased year over year across all mall types, and long visits increased for both indoor malls and open-air centers, the distribution of dwell time varies by format. Short visits make up a larger share of traffic at open-air shopping centers, for example, while longer visits account for a greater share at indoor malls. This divergence underscores the need for format-specific strategies, with operators clearly defining the core shoppers and missions they are best suited to serve and aligning tenant mix, amenities, and marketing accordingly.
Indoor malls, for instance, have increasingly positioned themselves as experiential hubs – particularly for younger consumers. Recent survey data shows that 57% of shoppers aged 18 to 34 report visiting a mall frequently or often, and they are more likely than older cohorts to arrive without a specific purchase in mind.
Foot traffic patterns reinforce this experiential appeal. In 2025, 37.6% of indoor mall visits lasted more than 75 minutes, compared to 33.4% for open-air centers and 34.6% for outlets. Indoor malls also captured the largest share of visits from the young-skewing “contemporary households” segment – singles, non-family households, and young couples without children – indicating strong resonance with younger audiences.
As indoor malls expand their experiential offerings, visit durations are rising even further – even as they hold steady or even slightly decline at other formats. For operators, this shift highlights a significant opportunity for indoor malls to deepen their role as climate-controlled third places. And for brands, it means high-impact access to Gen Z consumers in discovery mode – top-of-funnel engagement that is increasingly difficult and expensive to replicate through digital channels alone.
If indoor malls excel at capturing extended, social visits, open-air centers are finding success through convenience. In 2025, open-air centers had the highest shares of both weekday visits (64.0%) and short, sub-30 minutes (36.8%) among the three formats. Grocery anchors, superstores, and essential-service tenants like gyms – more common at open-air centers than at other formats – help drive steady, non-discretionary traffic.
Demographically, open-air centers drew the highest share of affluent families, a key demographic for daily errands. This alignment with higher-income households, combined with weekday consistency, positions open-air centers as reliable errand hubs embedded in community life.
Outlet malls, for their part, have historically differentiated themselves by offering something shoppers couldn’t find elsewhere: an experiential treasure hunt featuring brand-name merchandise at compelling prices. But the decline in long visits shown above suggests that this positioning may be coming under pressure – likely from the rise of off-price and discount chains as well as other low-cost, convenient treasure-hunt alternatives like thrift stores. When shoppers can score attractive deals online or browse for bargains at a nearby T.J. Maxx or Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, the incentive to dedicate time and travel to an outlet trip may no longer feel as compelling – especially for outlet malls’ core audience, which includes meaningful contingents of middle and lower-income consumers with families.
And data points to a subtle but steady erosion in the share of visitors willing to go the extra mile to visit outlet malls. Since 2023, the share of outlet visits from consumers traveling more than 30 miles has slipped from 33.1% to 31.8%, even as long-distance visits to other mall formats have remained relatively stable. This softening of destination demand may be contributing to outlets’ recent traffic lags.
Still, despite these lags in foot traffic, major outlet companies continue to see YoY increases in same-center tenant sales per square foot. The format’s strong visit start to 2026 also suggests that outlets still have significant draw – and that with the right strategy, they could reinvigorate their traffic trends.
One option is for outlet malls to lean further into their immediate trade areas: Nearly 20% of visits to outlets already originate within five miles – a share that edged up from 19.4% in 2023 to 19.9% in 2025. These closer shoppers may be largely responsible for the segment’s rise in short visits, pointing to an opportunity to further augment BOPIS offerings and select essential-use tenants.
Another option is to strengthen outlets’ destination appeal with distinctive retail, dining, and experiential offerings that resonate with value-oriented, larger-household shoppers. But whether they focus on convenience or on justifying the journey – or attempt to balance both – success will depend on identifying who their shoppers are and which missions they are best positioned to own.
As in other areas of retail, shopping center success increasingly depends on strategic clarity. The malls that thrive will be those that clearly define their role in their customers’ lives and execute against it with intention – whether by decisively optimizing for efficiency, fully investing in experience, or thoughtfully integrating both.
