Author:

Bracha Arnold

Return of the Lunch: Salad Chains Are Thriving

Salad chains are thriving. We take a closer look at three leading players in the industry - Chopt, Sweetgreen, and Just Salad – to see how they are faring into 2023.

Ulta & Lululemon: Discretionary Spending On The Up

Ulta Beauty and lululemon athletica – two brands that fall solidly into the discretionary spending category – are thriving in a challenging retail environment. We take a closer look at their recent foot traffic data to see what may be driving visits to their stores.

Who Uses NYC Airports: Biting Into The Big Apple’s Main Transport Hubs

We take a closer look at location intelligence data for the three major airports serving the New York area - JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty - to better understand who they serve and what can be done to turn them into ever-more appealing travel hubs for New Yorkers.

Off Price: Strength in The Face of Retail Challenges

Off-price retail has been a winner in the apparel retail space. We look at the location intelligence for some major players - T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Burlington, and Ross - to see how they are performing in challenging times.

Dining Out With The Cheesecake Factory

Despite the inflationary headwinds impacting restaurant traffic, some restaurants are thriving by implementing price increases to offset rising costs. We take a closer look at foot traffic and revenue data for one company succeeding in the current economic climate.

Northeastern USA Grocery Dive

As the cost of groceries continues to rise, grocery stores nationwide are looking for ways to stay competitive and drive foot traffic. We take a closer look at some of the most popular grocery chains in the Northeast and discover how a leading Northeastern chain is successfully remodeling locations

Ollie's Bargain Outlet: Discounters are Evolving

The discount retail industry is growing up. The sector is reaching far wider audiences and driving some of the fastest expanding brands in retail. Today, we take a closer look at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, a closeout bargain retailer of discontinued, surplus, or overstock items.

Five Franchises To Watch in 2023

Franchising is a popular way for companies to expand their businesses and for entrepreneurs to become business owners. We dive into the data for five expanding dining franchises to identify opportunities in the space.

What’s Next For Domestic Tourism?

The COVID-19 pandemic upended many aspects of travel and tourism – and the industry barely had time to recover before a rising consumer price index and budgetary concerns led some consumers to cut back on travel once again. We take a closer look at the current state of domestic travel and tourism.

Dining Out With Darden

Darden Restaurants is one of the world’s largest restaurant groups, with nearly 2,000 restaurants in its portfolio. With restaurants across the country continuing to feel inflationary pressures, how is the brand faring? We take a closer look.

Nike & lululemon Update: Strong Performance Amid Expansion Plans

With interest in fitness and sporting goods still strong, Nike and lululemon are focusing on new growth opportunities and continuing to expand their brick-and-mortar presence despite the ongoing headwinds. We take a closer look at their recent performance amidst a changing retail landscape.

Retail, Reinvented: The Rise of the Pop-Up Shop

Pop-up shops have long been a popular option for retailers looking for a fast, affordable, and engaging way to promote their products. We take a closer look at a few different pop-up retail experiences to understand how brands can leverage this format to expand their reach and tap into new markets.

Navigating a New Normal in Business Travel & Commutes

This white paper digs into the foot traffic data to understand how business travel has changed following the events of the past few years. After many stops and starts, COVID-19 surges, and inflationary pressures, how has traveler behavior shifted?

Ulta Beauty: Poised for Success into 2023

The past few years have seen Ulta Beauty exceeding all expectations, even as economic headwinds impacted many retail categories. With the first few weeks of 2023 behind us, we take a closer look at 2022's performance and see how the brand is faring into 2023.

Catching Up With DICK’s & Hibbett

With 2023 already underway, we look at the changes in visits to two of the biggest names in the segment – DICK's Sporting Goods and Hibbett Sports – to see how the chains performed in 2022 and what we should expect from the category this year.

2023: The Year of the Discount Store

Discount and dollar stores thrived during the pandemic, with the category gaining popularity with a wider shopper base. As inflation concerns persist, discount and dollar stores are positioned to capture an even larger share of the market.

Off-Price: Taking Off in Uncertain Times

Off-price apparel was a notably resilient segment during the pandemic. Now that inflation has replaced COVID as the major challenge facing retail, we dove into the data to see how the segment is performing and what might lie ahead in 2023.

Focusing On Fitness: Q4 and January Recap

The fitness industry proved remarkably resilient over the past few years. With January - the sector's strongest month of the year - behind us, we look at the segment's January performance to see how major chains are doing post-COVID and explore specialty fitness brands.

Washington, D.C. Population Changes & Migration Trends

Washington, D.C., has long attracted those looking to make their mark in government or policy. We take a look at the migration patterns for the city to see how COVID affected population growth, examine demographic trends from the past three years, and explore changes in surrounding cities.

2022 and Beyond: Catching Up With McDonald’s & Chipotle

When we last checked in with McDonald’s and Chipotle, both were outpacing their category peers and introducing new initiatives to help drive foot traffic and sales. With 2022 in the rearview, we dove into the quarterly performance of both chains to see what might lie ahead for them in 2023.

What Lies Ahead for Brick-and-Mortar Luxury in 2023

Luxury retailers are opening up stores in previously overlooked markets in the South. We look at the demographic shifts driving these changes to understand what may lie ahead for the brick-and-mortar luxury sector.

Post-Pandemic Migration Trends in New York

Over the pandemic, many claimed that major cities such as New York and its boroughs were fading in favor of the suburbs. But it takes more than a pandemic to keep NYC down. We take a closer look at the migration trends in these iconic cities and see what lies ahead for them post-COVID.

The San Francisco Shift

During COVID, San Francisco saw one of the highest outbound migration rates in the country. We check in to see what lies ahead for the city.

How Viral Social Media Trends Can Drive Offline Engagement

This blog takes a closer look at how social media campaigns can increase foot traffic and the role of influencer marketing in brick-and-mortar strategy.

Mall and Shopping Center Trends For 2023

Our latest white paper dives into key trends likely to shape the retail landscape in 2023 using foot traffic data, migration data, and more.

Placer Bytes: Nike, lululemon, and GameStop Update

This Placer Bytes takes a look at three companies – Nike, lululemon, and GameStop – to see how they fared over the holidays and what lies ahead.

Discount and Dollar Stores Leading the Pack

We dive into the performance of four major discount chains to see how the upcoming holiday season might affect visits.

How Retailers Can Win Big By Going Small

Our latest white paper dives into the foot traffic data of retailers embracing small-format stores to understand better the benefits of going small.

Off-Price, Hibbett, and Dick’s Pre-Holiday Check-in

We dove into the foot traffic data to the off-price and leading sports retailers to see what visits can tell us about the upcoming holiday season.

Coffee Chains Brewing Up Visits

As the holiday season approaches, we checked in to see how some of the biggest coffee chains are faring following their autumn drink releases.

Texas Roadhouse Innovations Dishing Up Success

Texas Roadhouse weathered the pandemic in part by embracing technology and takeaway. We dive into recent foot traffic to see how the chain is holding up.

McDonald's and Chipotle's Post-Pandemic Success

With Q3 2022 behind us, we took a closer look at McDonald’s and Chipotle to see what the foot traffic within the wider food industry can tell us.

Five Apparel Retailers to Watch Ahead of the Holidays

Brick-and-mortar apparel has faced a unique set of challenges of late, but many chains are thriving, including the five featured here.

Breakfast Restaurants are Rising in Popularity

We catch up with several breakfast restaurant leaders and take a look at how they are leveraging their knowledge of their customer base to succeed.

Tourism in Miami Heating Up

Miami’s tourism sector has been on an upswing for the past few years. We took a look at recent foot traffic to better understand the city’s tourism surge.

Darden Restaurants Cooking Up Success

We check in with the Darden Restaurant Group to see how its fleet of over 1,800 locations is performing amidst inflation and rising grocery costs.

Domestic Migration’s Ripple Effects

Our recent white paper takes a look at how domestic migration can affect local businesses. Read on to see how small changes can affect larger industries.

Placer.ai Office Building Indexes: August 2022 Recap

With office building recovery entering a more stable phase, we examined nationwide foot traffic patterns and explore how different cities are recovering.

The Reinvention of the American Mall

Our latest white paper dives into innovative strategies shopping centers have been implementing to keep them ahead of the pack.

Plus-Size Fashion’s Staying Power

We dive into the recent foot-traffic performance of three plus-size retailers - Destination XL, Lane Bryant, and Ashley Stewart.

Off-Price Apparel Foot Traffic on The Rise Again

We took a look at the latest foot traffic data to see how inflation, supply chain woes, and COVID-19 are driving visits to off-price retailers

Home Improvement Competition Heating Up

Interest in home improvement soared during the pandemic. We check in with the industry to see how it is faring with a new set of challenges.

Placer.ai Office Indexes: July 2022 Recap

We took a look at recent foot traffic data to offices to see how the sector is recovering, and how it is responding to recent economic challenges.

Airport Recovery Plagued by Staffing Woes

We took a look at airport foot traffic to understand how the sector is reacting to easing pandemic restrictions, inflation concerns, and rising gas prices.

Office Recovery Continues Despite Fuel Hikes

We took a look at office foot traffic trends since the start of the pandemic to see what visit patterns could tell us about the workplace recovery.

For Barnes & Noble, Rightsizing Means Resizing

We analyzed store optimization plans from leading retailers to find out how closing or re-imagining a retail location can help increase foot traffic.

Pharmacy’s Healthcare Pivot

We took a look at three of the biggest pharmacies in the US to see how they are reinventing themselves in an increasingly competitive space.

Targeting Renters Can Pay Off for Home Improvement Retailers

Our latest white paper looks at the home improvement and decor sector to see how economic shifts are affecting the industry.

Catching Up On The Outdoors: Sierra & National Parks

We took a look at foot traffic trends for national and state parks as well as foot traffic to Sierra, a popular off-price camping retailer.

Checking In On The Office Recovery - May 2022 Update

We use our Office Building Index to analyze foot traffic patterns to offices in three major cities and better understand how they are recovering.

Catching Up on Indoor Entertainment

We take a look at foot traffic trends to leading indoor entertainment destinations to understand consumer attitudes towards these types of experiences.

Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club - Q1 2022 Update

Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club were poised to do well in the beginning of 2022. We looked at foot traffic data to see how these wholesalers are holding up.

Off-Price Apparel Update - Q1 2022

We checked in with leading off-price retailers to see how the industry is holding up in the wake of inflation, gas prices, and Covid.

Grocery Opportunities Amidst Rising Prices and Shifting Preferences

Our latest white paper examines how the recent economic shifts are impacting grocery industry and how consumer attitudes are changing.

Catching up on Travel - Q1 2022

We took a closer look at Q1 2022 foot traffic for hotels, airports, and major convention centers to see how the travel industry is doing.

Steakhouse Chains Showing Sustained Visit Growth

We took a look at leading steakhouse chains in the US to find out how the sector is recovering and what the future might hold.

Brick and Mortar Footwear Retailers Are Here to Stay

We took a closer look at some of the best-performing shoe retailers to find out how the sector is faring.

Pet Care Sector Continuing Growth Into 2022

We took a closer look at foot traffic trends for Petco and PetSmart to see how the pet supply visit leaders fared over the past two years.