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Steady Visits in a Tough Month
On paper, September 2026 looked like a month for consumers to stay home. Gas prices hit a record for the month, and consumer sentiment sat near historic lows. Yet retail visits grew year over year (YoY), and full-service and fast-casual restaurants posted gains of their own. So how much of that strength came from a favorable calendar – and how much reflects demand that is holding up better than the headlines suggest?
Labor Day Gives Retail a Lift
Visits to essential retail (grocery, superstores, dollar stores, and the like) rose 1.4% YoY in September, while discretionary retail (apparel, home furnishings, home improvement, sporting goods, and other non-essentials) grew 1.8%. Both marked an improvement from August, when essentials grew 0.6% and discretionary visits were flat.
Some of that improvement comes down to the calendar – last year, Labor Day weekend straddled August and September, while this year it fell entirely in September, handing the month two extra prime shopping days. That shift likely gave discretionary retail a bigger lift than essentials, and may help explain why it came out ahead.
Retail Growth Outlasts the Holiday
But a look at the weekly data shows that retail's strength goes beyond the calendar.
When gas prices began surging in March, discretionary visits softened, falling below year-ago levels for five straight weeks beginning in late April as prices peaked at $4.50 per gallon. But as prices eased to $3.78 by early July, retail traffic regained momentum – and the gains held even after gas climbed back above $4. From mid-June through late September, essential retail visits grew YoY every week, while discretionary visits rose in all but one, continuing after Labor Day even as gas topped $4.45.
Fuel stations, meanwhile, had a harder time. Visits were down YoY in 24 of the 25 weeks since mid-April, with Labor Day week the lone exception. Some drivers may be concentrating their fill-ups at lower-priced wholesale club pumps – Costco reported high-single-digit growth in comparable gallons in September – while others may be filling up less often. Either way, the data points to a more deliberate consumer: economizing at the pump, but still showing up at stores.
QSR Lags as Other Dining Segments Grow
Dining also saw pockets of continued strength in September. Fast-casual visits grew 2.2% YoY, extending a growth streak that has lasted all year, while full-service traffic rose 1.0% YoY after falling in August – likely helped by the holiday weekend.
Quick-service restaurant (QSR) visits, meanwhile, fell 2.2% – an improvement from August’s 3.7% drop, but still a seventh consecutive monthly decline. QSR’s more price-sensitive customers may be cutting back on restaurant trips as high gas prices squeeze budgets and dining out gets more expensive relative to eating at home.
Looking Ahead
September got a boost from the calendar, but the weekly data shows that shoppers kept visiting stores even as gas prices hit record levels – a sign of real consumer resilience. With fuel prices starting to ease and the holidays approaching, that resilience could set retail up for a solid start to the holiday shopping season.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
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A Month of Headwinds
September offered consumers little relief. The national average gas price climbed to $4.48 per gallon by late September – a record for that time of year – while consumer sentiment fell to a four-month low.
How did mall visits hold up amid these pressures? We dove into the data to find out.
Visits Rise Across the Board
Despite the headwinds, all three mall formats saw year-over-year (YoY) visit growth in September 2026. Open-air shopping centers led the pack once again with visits up 5.6% – continuing a positive YoY streak that has held all year.
Indoor malls were close behind at 5.5%, narrowing the gap with open-air centers to its smallest margin of 2026. And outlet malls bounced back from August's decline to post a 4.1% YoY increase – their strongest showing since February.
A Mixed Labor Day Bag
Still, September's strength owed partly to the calendar. Labor Day fell on September 7th this year, placing the full three-day holiday weekend in September – whereas in 2025, the Saturday and Sunday fell in August. The shift brought two busy shopping days into September, a particular advantage for outlets, which get the largest relative boost from the holiday.
Just how large? Outlet visits on the Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day were 29.1% higher than the average for other September Saturdays and Sundays, compared with lifts of just 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, at indoor malls and open-air centers. So even though outlets drew fewer holiday visitors than last year, having those elevated traffic days count toward September still gave the month's YoY comparison a lift.
Indoor malls and open-air centers, meanwhile, posted YoY gains throughout the holiday weekend. With travelers facing the highest Labor Day gas prices on record, some shoppers may have favored nearby malls and shopping centers over the longer drive to an outlet.
Momentum Into Q4
Calendar assist aside, September's data points to a mall sector that is holding up well against substantial headwinds. Open-air centers and indoor malls both grew YoY for the month and drew more Labor Day visitors than last year, a healthy sign as retailers prepare for the holiday season. Outlet malls' holiday lag, meanwhile, is a reminder that destination formats remain more exposed to what happens at the pump.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Ready, Set, Celebrate!
Everybody loves a holiday.
So, in honor of National Foot Traffic Day (okay, we made that one up), we dove into the data to see how brands turned some of the calendar’s more creative celebrations into reasons to visit.
Say Cheese …
National Cheeseburger Day falls on September 18th, and this year, plenty of chains got in on the action. But Five Guys – which rarely runs promotions – stole the show with a buy-one-get-one burger deal that ran from September 16th - 18th.
And diners were quick to bite. Visits rose 21.3% above an average Wednesday on the promotion’s first day, 37.8% above an average Thursday on its second, and 64.1% above an average Friday on the holiday itself – making September 18th Five Guys’ busiest day of the past 12 months. Across the full week, visits jumped 19.1% year over year.
…or Moooo
Chick-fil-A, for its part, held a celebration earlier in the summer more to the cows’ liking. On July 14th, the chain brought back National Cow Appreciation Day, offering free entrées to guests in bovine-themed attire.
The dress code took a little effort, but customers were happy to play along. Visits ran 29.8% above the Tuesday average for the past year, making July 14th the chain’s busiest Tuesday in that period – and its busiest day overall. At 21.1% above the daily average, traffic narrowly surpassed February 28th, when a free chicken biscuit giveaway drew a 20.9% lift on its final day.
The offer’s final hour drew an even bigger surge. From 6 to 7 PM, visits were 81.9% above the same-hour Tuesday average – suggesting a last-minute rush to join the herd.
Flip-Flops?
National Flip Flop Day, it turns out, is also a thing.
On June 5th, Tropical Smoothie Cafe offered free smoothies to flip-flop wearers from 2 to 7 PM. The casual dress code drew some serious traffic, with the giveaway window accounting for 58.5% of the day’s visits, compared with 40.2% during the same hours on an average Friday.
Save the Date
For retail and dining brands, the calendar offers plenty of opportunities to turn an ordinary day into an occasion. And customers are more than willing to turn out – even if the holiday isn’t on everyone’s calendar.
For more data-driven dining deep-dives, visit placer.ai/anchor.
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Fuel Headwinds, Food Opportunities
Convenience stores are navigating two competing trends. On the one hand, high gas prices are weighing on gas station traffic. But at the same time, consumers looking to stretch their dining budgets are creating an opening for c-stores serving quick, affordable meals.
So how are convenience stores faring amid these crosscurrents? We dove into the data to find out.
Lunchtime Wins
Visit data for full convenience store sites – including both stores and their accompanying gas stations – show that chains with strong food offerings are outperforming.
The chart below compares each chain’s lunch share – the portion of 8 AM-8 PM visits occurring between 11 AM and 2 PM – with its year-over-year (YoY) visit growth from January through August 2026. And a clear pattern emerges: The six regional chains with the highest lunch shares, from Buc-ee’s at 30.8% to Casey’s at 26.7%, all saw visits grow YoY. Meanwhile, national brands 7-Eleven and Circle K had the lowest lunch shares and recorded modest visit declines.
These food-forward chains’ strong lunch business suggests they are meeting demand for affordable, convenient meals as dining out grows more expensive – giving customers another reason to stop by. And expansion is helping them reach new customers. Buc-ee’s is entering new states, Wawa has added more than 200 stores since 2022, and Sheetz expects to operate nearly 20 Michigan stores by year’s end.
Slurping Up Visits
Still, headwinds aside, the big national chains are also finding ways to draw crowds. On July 11th, for example, 7-Eleven celebrated its annual Slurpee Day, offering a free small Slurpee at participating stores.
And customers were happy to chill out. Despite the chain’s overall YoY visit gap – partly reflecting recent rightsizing measures – Slurpee Day 2026 drew its strongest turnout since 2019, helped by 7/11 falling on a Saturday. Visits were 79.2% above the chain’s Saturday average and 90.7% above its daily average for the preceding 12 months – highlighting the continued draw of the signature treat and its annual giveaway.
Fuel Deals Bring Drivers Back
Value at the pump can also give drivers a reason to stop. On May 7th, Circle K offered up to 40 cents off per gallon at more than 5,000 U.S. locations, with Inner Circle loyalty members receiving early access before the discount opened to all customers from 4 to 7 p.m. Then, on August 13th, the chain repeated the 40-cent discount as an all-day offer exclusively for Inner Circle members.
Both Thursdays drew outsized crowds, surpassing even the pre-July 4th bump visible in the chart. The spikes suggest that even as high gas prices weigh on routine fill-ups, a compelling fuel deal can bring drivers back.
Reasons to Pull In
From quick meals to signature treats and fuel discounts, c-stores are giving budget-conscious consumers reasons to pull in. Can these draws help keep visits coming as pressure at the pump persists?
For more data-driven retail analyses, follow placer.ai/anchor.
Enter Goku
Burger King has been on a roll in 2026 – and its latest limited-time menu just gave traffic a Super Saiyan-sized boost. The Dragon Ball Super Power Up Pack, which launched September 1st with Super Saiyan Sauce, mango-peach lemonade with popping boba, and one of six collectible figurines, drove the chain’s biggest traffic surge of the year.
We dove into the data to see how the launch affected Burger King’s year-over-year (YoY) visits – and how the response stacked up against the chain’s previous pop-culture collaborations.
A Strong Run Gets Supercharged
The Dragon Ball Super collaboration arrived on top of an already strong 2026 for Burger King, with a revamped Whopper and value offers like $5 Duos and $7 Trios helping drive robust U.S. same-store sales growth in Q2. Visits also rose or held relatively steady through the summer, keeping Burger King ahead of the wider category even as QSR visits declined amid higher gas prices and other headwinds.
But the Dragon Ball launch widened the gap considerably. During the week of August 31, Burger King visits jumped 20.1% YoY, while the broader category posted only a slight increase, likely reflecting the shift in Labor Day weekend timing. And Burger King visits remained above year-ago levels in the weeks that followed, even as QSR traffic slipped back into negative territory.
Giving SpongeBob a Run for His Money
The Dragon Ball launch also held its own against Burger King’s other recent hits. Weekly visits surged 16.8% above the chain’s 12-month weekly average – edging past the 16.3% lift seen during last December’s SpongeBob collaboration, which helped drive Burger King’s busiest week of 2025.
Keeping the Crown
Pop-culture collaborations can make an affordable meal feel a little more special – an especially useful draw when diners are watching their budgets. And with an upgraded core menu, value offers, and another collaboration hit, Burger King has plenty of momentum heading into the final stretch of 2026.
For more data-driven dining insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Cue the Comeback
After years of stop-start recovery, 2026 is giving movie theaters something they’ve been missing: a steady supply of reasons to leave the couch. The summer box office set an all-time domestic record, and while a certain web-slinger has stolen the show, the year's foot traffic story features a much bigger cast of crowd-pleasers.
We dove into visits to AMC Theatres, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas to see which releases coincided with the biggest traffic spikes – and how those busy weekends are adding up.
Big Screens, Bigger Crowds
From animated adventures to horror flicks, 2026’s big-screen lineup has had something for just about everyone. Visits to leading movie theater chains climbed 137.1% above the 2026 year-to-date daily average during Backrooms’ opening weekend, while the opening weekend shared by Scary Movie and Masters of the Universe brought a 138.9% lift. Toy Story 5, The Odyssey, Michael, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 also drove sizable traffic bumps – suggesting that audiences are finding plenty to enjoy across genres.
Then came Spider-Man. On August 1, the day after Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened, visits soared 305.5% above average – more than twice the lift associated with any other release highlighted in the chart. With a record-breaking $360 million opening weekend, the film gave theaters plenty to cheer about, both at the box office and in the foot traffic data.
The Sequel: Double-Digit Growth
And all those busy weekends are adding up. Between January and August 2026, AMC Theatres, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas all posted double-digit year-over-year (YoY) visit growth, with gains ranging from 11.7% to 17.5%.
To be sure, the monthly story had a few plot twists. April and July both saw visits dip below 2025 levels, partly reflecting tough comparisons with last year's hits. April was up against A Minecraft Movie and Sinners, while July lapped Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, three films that were expected to account for roughly a quarter of the summer 2025 domestic box office.
But August 2026 brought a blockbuster rebound. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day fresh off its July 31 debut and The Odyssey still drawing crowds after its own strong opening, visits to the three chains surged 51.6% to 69.9% YoY – a strong finish to the summer movie season.
Keep the Popcorn Coming
Spider-Man may have delivered the biggest traffic moment of 2026 so far, but theaters aren’t relying on one hero alone. The variety of releases drawing crowds suggests that the appeal of a trip to the movies extends well beyond any single franchise or genre – giving operators plenty of ways to keep audiences coming back.
For more data-driven consumer behavior insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
