We take a closer look at the discretionary retail categories that outperformed during 2024's holiday season - home furnishings, beauty, and apparel.

The end of the year is a time of bustling activity as many visit family and friends, go on vacation, and more. Using the latest location analytics for transportation hubs, hotels, museums, and aquariums, we uncover key trends in consumer behavior during the holiday season.

This year's holiday season had one fewer week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, leading retailers to consolidate promotions and encourage repeat visits. We took a look at the visitation trends to see how well this strategy played out.

The Placer 100 Index for Retail and Dining is a dynamic list of leading retailers, providing insight into the wider trends impacting the retail and dining space. And while December had fewer shopping days in 2024 than in 2023, visits remained close to last year's.

Malls continued to display their resilience once again in 2024, with traffic to indoor malls, outlet malls, and open-air shopping centers remaining essentially on par with 2023 levels, suggesting a strong positioning ahead of 2025.

Christmas is a time for gathering at home, but it’s also an occasion when many Americans celebrate by treating themselves to a nice meal out with family and friends. So with the holiday season drawing to close, we dove into the data to see which dining segments benefited from the holiday cheer. 

Darden Restaurants Inc. is the largest full-service restaurant group in the country. We took a look at the location analytics to see how the company's recent performance, and examined what the holiday season might bring for its wide array of brands.

Overall visits to the Placer 100 Retail & Dining Index were up 0.9% year-over-year (YoY) in November – a strong start to the holiday season. We looked at some of the retailers benefitting most from the holiday shopping surge to see who is coming out ahead.

The Placer.ai Mall Index for November 2024 shows a strong start to the holiday season thanks to the YoY visit growth during the month of November in general and over Black Friday in particular.

Black Friday is the biggest retail milestone of the year – drawing millions of shoppers to stores nationwide. How did brick-and-mortar retailers fare during this year’s Black Friday? We took a closer look at the data to find out.

Shoppers continue to prioritize value in 2024, offering opportunities for discount and dollar stores to thrive during the upcoming holiday season. We took a look at what this holiday season might have in store for discount retailers Dollar Tree and Dollar General.

Over the past few years, discount retailers Five Below and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet have grown both their footprints and audiences. How did they fare in Q3 2024, and what might they expect this holiday season? We took a look at the data to find out.

With the year almost over, we dove into the visitation data for off-price leaders to see how the TJX chains, Burlington, and Ross Dress for Less are positioned ahead of the holidays.

Leading beauty chains Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty Supply are gearing up for an exciting holiday shopping season. We dove into the data to see how the two chains have performed in recent months – and what they can expect in this year’s Q4 retail milestones.

Has consumer demand for sporting goods and sportswear maintained itself, or is interest waning? We dive into the data to find out.

How are visits to the Placer 100 Index - a dynamic list of leading chains - faring as the year's fourth quarter begins? And what can visits tell us about the upcoming holiday season?