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Difficult February Drags Gap Traffic Down in Q1 2025
Overall visits to Gap Banners declined 3.8% in Q1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with average visits per location falling 4.2%. The company’s performance appears to have been impacted by a particularly challenging February, when the absence of a leap year day and severe weather events led to a 10.2% drop in overall visits and an 11.0% decrease in average visits per venue compared to February 2024.
The company’s traffic was also somewhat weighed down by Banana Republic’s performance, which posted the largest year-over-year (YoY) declines of all Gap banners during the analyzed period. Meanwhile, the Athleta banner – which struggled somewhat in 2024 – returned to modest growth in Q1 2025, with overall visits up 0.4% and average visits per location up 1.1% YoY.
Signs of Growth in April 2025
Gap’s performance improved significantly in April, with the Gap and Old Navy banners seeing YoY increases in both overall visits and average visits per venue. Old Navy in particular saw its overall traffic jump 10.2% and average visits per location increase by 9.1% compared to April 2024 – likely boosted by a tariff-driven pull-forward in consumer demand.
Average visits per venue also increased at Banana Republic and Athleta – although both banners saw minor YoY declines in overall traffic. The positive April data may indicate that the company is gaining traction and could suggest a more robust year ahead.
Ulta’s Budding Recovery
Ulta saw YoY declines of 3.7% in total visits and 7.1% in average visits per venue in Q1 2025, driven in part by difficult comparisons to a strong Q1 2024. Like Gap, the company’s February performance likely hurt its Q1 performance, with February traffic down 7.4% and average visits per venue down 10.7% compared to February 2024. But Ulta’s visit metrics improved in March 2025, with visits just 1.0% lower than in March 2024, and average visits per venue metrics narrowing to a 4.3% decline.
By April 2025, overall visits were up 0.4% YoY, and visits per venue down just 2.8% – suggesting that Ulta, like Gap, is now on a potential upward trajectory.
While Q1 2025 presented challenges for both Gap and Ulta, the rebound in April traffic offers a hopeful indication of strengthening consumer engagement. Will the companies maintain their momentum, or was the April rally the result of a temporary pull-forward of demand?
Keep up with The Anchor to find out.
Analyzing location intelligence for Saturday, May 10th (the day before Mother’s Day) and on Sunday, May 11th (Mother’s Day) can reveal how some consumers chose to celebrate the occasion.
Full-service restaurants – including breakfast-first casual dining chains such as IHOP and Waffle House – saw significant visit spikes on Mother’s Day, with traffic also rising on Saturday (almost 10% up compared to the average Saturday to date). In fact, Mother’s Day and the day before Mother’s Day were the busiest Sunday and Saturday in 2025 so far, respectively. Coffee chains also received a boost – both before Mother’s day and an even larger spike on Mother’s Day itself.
May 10th and 11th were also the most visited Saturdays and Sundays in 2025 so far at greeting card retailers – both specialized stores like Hallmark and chains with a large greeting card selection such as CVS and Walgreens. Finally, Ulta also received a boost – likely from shoppers looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, recently wrapped up its 24th run. We dove into the location intelligence data to understand how the audience has changed in recent years and understand how the shift is impacting spending patterns at the festival.
Coachella Drives Visitors to Indio, CA
Indio, CA is home to the Empire Polo Club, a thousand-acre event facility known for hosting many large-scale events throughout the year which attract numerous out-of-towners. One of the venue’s oldest annual events is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals (often referred to just as “Coachella”) that takes place over two consecutive three-day weekends in April and drives large visit spikes to Indio during its run.
Coachella Audience Shifted In Recent Years
Like many other live cultural events, Coachella was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. And comparing the recent audience segmentation data for Empire Polo Club visitors during recent Coachella weekends to pre-pandemic trends suggests that the festival’s audience shifted slightly following its post-pandemic return.
In recent years (2023, 2024, and 2025), the share of family segments in the Empire Polo Club’s captured market has generally been higher than it was pre-pandemic, while the share of single audience segments decreased. Specifically, Spatial.ai’s segments of Near-Urban Diverse Families, Wealthy Suburban Families, and Melting Pot Families grew, while the share of Young Professionals fell. The share of Educated Urbanites in the Empire Polo Club’s captured market showed more variance, though it was also lower over the last two years (2024 and 2025) than it was in 2019.
The audience shift could suggest that Coachella is becoming more family-friendly, with some parents choosing to make a family trip out of the festival weekend. At the same time, the increase in family-oriented segments may also indicate that the audience base has shifted younger and that the festival now attracts more Gen Z attendees, many of whom still live at home.
Shifts in Spending Patterns
The shift in audience also seems to have driven a change in spending patterns over Coachella weekend. Between 2019 and 2025, the data reveals a notable decrease in hotel & resort visits by Coachella attendees along with an increase in visits to major retail and dining categories, with the largest visit increase reserved for the most affordable segments.
Perhaps budget-conscious families and cash-strapped Gen-Zers living at home are foregoing the more expensive hotels and resorts in favor of more affordable accommodations such as Airbnbs or even camping on-site. To stretch their budgets even further, these attendees are favoring grocery stores, superstores, c-stores, and QSR as their preferred food options, driving significant visit increases to these categories.
At the same time, traffic to full-service restaurants and even apparel chains also grew somewhat in recent years – which could suggest a bifurcated spending pattern. While a significant portion of attendees prioritize affordability in lodging and everyday food, other segments with more disposable income are still willing to spend on sit-down dining and fashion purchases, perhaps viewing these as part of the overall festival experience.
Staying Relevant in 2025 and Beyond
Analyzing post-pandemic Coachella audiences reveals an increased presence of family segments, coupled with a notable gravitation towards budget-friendly spending – painting a picture of a potentially younger, more financially conscious attendee base. Simultaneously, the continued, albeit more moderate, growth in spending at full-service restaurants and apparel chains also indicates a persistent segment willing to invest in the broader festival experience. This dual trend underscores Coachella's success in balancing its appeal to both value-driven attendees and those seeking a more premium experience and suggests that the festival is continuing to maintain its relevance in 2025 – and beyond.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
April 2025 Visits Increased to All Mall Formats
Following a February slowdown, March 2025 mall data offered early signs of a rebound as indoor mall traffic increased and visit gaps at open-air shopping centers and outlet malls narrowed. Now, April data confirms the resurgence in mall activity, with YoY monthly visits up across all mall formats.
Some of the strength may be due to this year’s relatively late Easter, which fell in April (Easter 2024 took place in March) and may have led to a YoY increase in April 2025 as families utilized the holiday weekend for shopping and leisure. But diving deeper into the data suggests that the calendar shift is just one reason for this month’s strong visit numbers, which may also have been boosted by a pull-forward of consumer demand following the early April tariff announcement.
Easter Drives Visit Boost – And Dip
Looking at daily visits in April reveals that the Easter calendar shift had both a positive and negative impact on mall foot traffic. Visits were strong the week before Easter – particularly on Good Friday – as consumers bought gifts, shopped sales, and used their day off to visit mall-based dining and entertainment venues with friends and family. Outlet malls in particular received a significant boost with visits on April 18th (Good Friday) up 26.2% compared to the April 2025 Friday average – perhaps evidence of a more challenged consumer.
But visits to all three formats also dropped significantly on Easter Sunday, with visits to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls down 59.4%, 33.3%, and 25.9%, respectively, compared to each format’s Sunday average in April 2025. So while Easter did drive a visit boost before the holiday, Sunday’s traffic drop may have balanced out any Easter-driven increase. Rather, the robust April performance likely reflects sustained consumer demand for mall experiences.
Weekly Data Shows Positive Mall Trends Beyond Easter
Weekly numbers also suggest that malls’ performance is not just due to an Easter bump. YoY weekly visits increased for all three formats during the last three full weeks of April, with indoor malls and open-air shopping centers receiving the largest boost the week after Easter – pointing to a broader trend of renewed consumer interest in mall-based activities.
The weekly numbers showing visit hikes following April 2nd also suggest that tariffs may already be impacting consumer behavior, with some shoppers likely beginning to stock up ahead of anticipated price increases and possible shortages.
More & Longer Mall Visits
Analyzing the average visit duration adds another layer of insights into malls’ April success.
Last month, the average visit duration increased for all three mall formats – so not only did malls receive more visits YoY, each visit also lasted longer, on average, than it did last year. This may suggest a larger combined basket size, with consumers spending more time in stores or visiting more mall-based retailers in a single trip. This highlights once again the resilience of the format and the ongoing consumer demand for mall-based retail, dining, and entertainment – and may offer another indication of the pull-forward of demand from certain consumers.
Malls’ Robust April Performance
April 2025 mall data reveals a significant upswing in mall traffic across all formats along with an increase in average visit duration, demonstrating a recovery that extends beyond the influence of the Easter calendar shift. These positive trends reveal malls’ continued role as key destinations for shopping and leisure – even in times of economic headwinds – and could be pointing to a pull-forward of consumer demand in anticipation of retail uncertainty.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Traffic to First Watch continues to climb as the company forges on with its expansion. Visits to the chain were 7.3% higher year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2025 as visits per location held essentially steady (-0.8% YoY) – revealing that demand for the breakfast, brunch, and lunch dining concept remains robust despite the consumer headwinds.
And according to the latest monthly data, First Watch may be in even better shape than its already strong Q1 2024 visit numbers suggest. In April 2025, overall visits to the chain grew 10.5% YoY while visits per location increased by 3.0% – indicating that the morning and afternoon-focused dining brand likely still has more room to grow.
For more data-driven consumer analysis, visit placer.ai/anchor.
We dove into the visit data to see how Starbucks, Dunkin,’ and Dutch Bros are faring in Q1 2025.
Coffee Consumers Looking For Indulgence
Affordable luxuries like coffee tend to do well in times of rising prices and heightened budget-consciousness. So it should come as no surprise that visits to coffee chains have been on the rise recently, with overall traffic to the category up 1.8% year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2025. Much of the increase can be attributed to the aggressive expansions of small and medium coffee chains such as Dutch Bros (13.4% YoY increase in visits in Q1 2025), Scooter’s Coffee (+15.3% YoY) and 7 Brew Coffee (+87.3%).
Meanwhile, visits to coffee leaders Starbucks and Dunkin’ remained relatively stable – falling by just 0.9% and 1.6%, respectively, in line with the wider QSR Q1 2025 YoY visit gap of 1.6%. Contrasting the growth of smaller coffee chains with Starbucks and Dunkin’s minor traffic dips may suggest that consumers prefer to spend their limited discretionary funds on unique or decadent treats instead of on classic drinks and pastries.
Starbucks Continues to Lead the Category
But despite the rapid growth of smaller coffee chains, Starbucks continues to dominate the coffee category, receiving over half of combined visits to Starbucks, Dunkin’, Dutch Bros, Scooter’s Coffee, and 7 Brew Coffee. At the same time, though, Starbucks’ stronghold on the category may be loosening slightly – the Seattle-based coffee giant’s relative visit share fell from 55.8% in Q1 2024 to 51.2% in Q1 2025 as smaller chains continued growing and expanding.
The cross-visitation data also highlights Starbucks’ dominance. In Q1 2025, the majority of visitors to most other coffee chains (51.3% of Dunkin’ visitors, 65.7% of Dutch Bros, and 58.4% of 7 Brew visitors) also visited a Starbucks in the same period. Meanwhile, only 27.4% of Starbucks consumers went to Dunkin’ and 16.4% went to Dutch Bros during the analyzed period, with even smaller shares going to Scooter’s and 7 Brew. So while the smaller chains are clearly making inroads into the coffee market, Starbucks still commands a strong central position, attracting a majority of coffee-goers and enjoying significant loyalty.
Despite the ongoing expansion of Dutch Bros and the rise of smaller coffee chains, Starbucks continues to dominate the U.S. coffee category.
For more data-driven dining insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
