Placer.ai

America’s largest coffee chain is making a $1 billion bet on the future, and it involves closing hundreds of stores. Starbucks' urban closures are likely due to migration effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, with our data suggesting traffic has yet to fully recover in many core urban centers. This strategy aims to win back customers seeking that original "third space" experience, which had been diluted by the focus on convenience. Big thanks to Commercial Observer for featuring our data and insights from our Head of Analytical Research R. J. Hottovy, CFA in your article and your newsletter! Check out the full article herehttps://lnkd.in/dYrkuFbB Jesse Kent Derring-Do Inc.

Nothing drives traffic quite like a sharp, undeniable discount. Pizza Hut’s summer $2-Buck Tuesday promotion, offering a $2 Personal Pan Pizza, drove a remarkable 63.2% Year-over-Year surge in Tuesday visits during its run. This major promotion successfully lifted overall weekly foot traffic into positive territory for the chain, underscoring the strong consumer pull of aggressive, can’t-miss value deals over recent new product launches.

The new and improved Placer Academy, exclusively for our customers, is officially live! Solve your biggest business challenges faster than ever. The new Academy is organized around your specific industry and role, with interactive courses and resources tailored to your most important use cases. Transform the way you leverage location intelligence through: 🔹 Goal-Oriented Learning: Courses matched to objectives like attracting tenants or competitive benchmarking. 🔹 Hands-On Training: Build real-world skills with interactive, step-by-step workflows. 🔹 Rich Resource Library: Go from novice to power user with expert webinars, downloadable templates, and more. Unlock your full competitive potential today! https://lnkd.in/dbM93rCw

Has spooky season officially begun? 👻

How did Discover Kalamazoo secure 82% hotelier approval and fund a new $45M sports facility? They used Placer.ai data. Our visitor journey insights provided the conclusive strategic data that youth sports tourism drives hotel stays across the entire county, not just near the venue. This powerful finding led directly to the creation of a critical funding assessment. The result is a facility projected to deliver $48.6 million in annual economic impact and 36,000 new hotel room nights. Check out the full case study in the link below.

We had our eye on a certain retailer to watch, and the data shows our predictions were on point... Staples has seen visits up year-over-year in every month of 2025 except for February. This incredible turnaround is driven by the retailer's strategic shift to a greater emphasis on services and a strong B2B focus. By accomplishing more with each location, Staples is successfully reinventing its role in the retail space.

The American mall's biggest problem is becoming the small business owner's best opportunity. The decline of chain stores is actively reimagining the commercial real estate landscape, making prime retail space attainable for local entrepreneurs. This change is driving Main Street opportunities for tenants beyond the traditional retail model resulting in a more dynamic, locally-focused retail environment. Big thanks to Kevin Williams of CNBC for featuring insights from our Director of Research, Elizabeth Lafontaine! Check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gbQf9s2Z Jesse Kent Derring-Do Inc.

What did September's top Google trends tell us about consumer movement? We took a look at last month's top trending Google searches and paired them with Placer data to see how these digital moments translated to physical movements. Here were the top Google searches in September and how they showed up offline: 🏈 MNF (Ravens vs. Lions): The highly watched football game (Sept 22nd) brought a 44.3% spike in daily out-of-market visitors to Baltimore, MD. 📱iPhone 17 Release: The launch day (Sept 19th) drove a 50.9% spike in daily visits to Apple Stores compared to a same day of week average since January 1st. 🏰 Disneyland Resort: The week of September 1st was the best performing week of H2 2025 so far for the Anaheim, CA resort, seeing an 8.8% increase in weekly visits year-over-year.

This Texas titan is outpacing the competition... While the average grocery store saw a 0.6% jump in visits in early 2025, H-E-B delivered a monumental 5.6% year-over-year increase. How does the supermarket powerhouse do it? By planting deep roots in major metropolitan areas like Austin and San Antonio. A stunning 32.6% of their visitors are coming from urban centers, proving their strategy of focusing on city dwellers is a winning one. They're not just a grocery store - they're a regional force.

Forget the calendar—for many, the official start of fall is marked by one thing: the return of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. ☕ 🍂 The early data shows the launch was a massive success with visits up 27% compared to the Tuesday average on launch day, while the first weekend of the season saw visits up nearly 10% compared to the 2025 weekend average. This event has created a powerful and lasting legacy, driving visits to Starbucks locations nationwide. Check out our latest weekly brief to learn more!