Placer.ai: Black Friday store traffic winners include...
Two off-price retailers saw some of the strongest Black Friday traffic, but several unexpected chains also had a strong Black Friday performance this year compared to 2024.
"Surprise winners” of this year’s Black Friday include Sam’s Club, Nordstrom, Gap, Lowe’s and Barnes & Noble — plus Bath & Body Works, according to retail data firm Placer.ai, which tracked store visits on Friday, Nov. 28 and compared them to Black Friday last year.
Off-price retailers Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (16.6%) and Ross Dress for Less (13.9%) experienced some of the strongest numbers. (Individual retailer year-over-year Black Friday visit data is at end of article.)
Overall, the retail category saw a 2.7% increase in Black Friday visits over last year, with a 50.7% increase in daily visit averages during the first three weeks of November compared to 2024.
By category, Placer.ai found that thrift stores (12.2%) saw the largest increase in Black Friday visits compared to last year, followed by beauty & self care (4.5%), discount & dollar (4.4%) and clothing (3.7%) sectors.
[READ MORE: NRF: Holiday weekend drew record shoppers; online and in-store up over last year]
“Black Friday provided a potent reminder of the resilience of consumer demand and the continued centrality of this specific day to the wider retail holiday period,” said Ethan Chernofsky, chief marketing officer at Placer.ai. “Most categories saw visits up compared to 2024, with the remaining either seeing minor declines or flat visit rates. This is an especially positive sign in a year where Black Friday falls later in the calendar and when the pre-Christmas period looks especially poised for a significant spike in overall visits."
Individual retailer year-over-year Black Friday visit data includes the following:
Superstores & wholesale clubs
- Sam’s Club (9.7%)
- Lowe’s (9.7%)
- BJ’s Wholesale Club (8.2%)
- Costco (7.7%)
- Home Depot (3.0%)
- Walmart (2.1%)
- Target (0.0%)
Discount & dollar stores
- Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (16.6%)
- Dollar General (5.7%)
- Five Below (2.5%)
- Dollar Tree (-0.2%)
Off-price retailers
- Ross Dress for Less (13.9%)
- HomeGoods (6.2%)
- TJ Maxx (5.2%)
- Marshalls (5.1%)
- Nordstrom Rack (3.3%)
- Burlington (1.5%)
Department stores & apparel
- Gap (12.5%)
- All Gap brands (6.4%)
- Nordstrom (2.4%)
- Lululemon (1.5%)
- Dillard’s (0.5%)
- Neiman Marcus (0.0%)
- Kohl’s (-5.3%)
- Macy’s (-5.9%)
- JCPenney (-6.7%)
- Belk (-8.7%)
Specialty stores
- Bath & Body Works (23.7%)
- Barnes & Noble (5.8%)
- Starbucks (2.2%)
- Ulta Beauty (-0.5%)
- Best Buy (-2.1%)
- Dick’s Sporting Goods (-4.2%)
- GameStop (7.7%)
Malls
When it came to mall visits, Placer.ai found that shopping malls of all types saw a surge in visits. Indoor malls saw the greatest — 3.1% — year-over-year percentage increase in traffic on Black Friday, possibly due to stormy weather in parts of the U.S., including the Midwest, Great Lakes, Northern Rockies, and Pacific Northwest.
Open-air shopping centers also saw increased year-over-year traffic (1.7%), as other parts of the country enjoyed milder weather, such as California, the Sunbelt, and the Eastern Seaboard, noted Caroline Wu, director of research at Placer.ai.
"Outlet malls were flat (0.2%) compared to 2024, but shoppers saved their wallets for Black Friday as visitation was up 368.9% to outlet malls compared to the daily average for the first three weeks of November 2025," Wu said.
