Skip to main content

Placer.ai: Q4 foot traffic was strongest in these retail sectors...

Zach Russell headshot
Five Below
Visits to Five Below increased 9.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Fitness centers, dollar chains and apparel stores were among the retail sectors that closed out 2024 the strongest in terms of traffic.

Retail foot traffic firm Placer.ai’s latest Quarterly Retail Review for the fourth quarter of 2024 revealed that fitness centers led the pack, with visits increasing 4.1% compared to the same quarter in 2023. Discount and dollar stores followed at a 2.0% increase, with apparel right behind at 1.8%. (The period included last-minute shoppers on Super Saturday, which saw department stores and specialty retailers see visits increase, as well as the post-holiday rush.)

In the fourth quarter, fitness chains saw strong year-over-year visits in terms of total visits and average visits per location. EoS Fitness saw the largest increase in both year-over-year visits (22.1%) and year-over-year average visits per location (12.8%). Crunch Fitness, Vasa Fitness and Chuze Fitness all saw substantial increases in the quarter as well.

Advertisement - article continues below
Advertisement
Fitness Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai
Fitness Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai

Discount, Dollar Stores 

In the discount and dollar store sector, visit increases and decreases were marginal each week, but exploded during the week of Dec. 23, increasing 28.2% year-over-year. 

Five Below led the category in the quarter, seeing a 9.3% increase in visits, followed by Dollar Tree (5.6%) and Dollar General (4.9%). Placer.ai credits Five Below’s success to its store growth, adding more than 200 new locations over the past year.

[READ MORE: Placer.ai: Top brands to watch in 2025]

Discount/dollar chains Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai
Discount/dollar chains Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai
Advertisement - article continues below
Advertisement

Apparel

In the apparel category, visits rose substantially during the week of Nov. 25 (19.3%), which included Black Friday, along with the week of Dec. 23 (19.9%).  Thrift stores and off-price chains led the growth in the fourth quarter. Savers Thrift Stores (9.8%), Goodwill (6.5%), Burlington (4.7%) and T.J. Maxx (4.1%) all outpaced the overall industry visit growth of 1.8% in the quarter.

Apparel Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai
Apparel Q4 2024
Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai

Home Improvement, Furnishings 

In the home improvement and furnishing category, visits contracted 0.1%. Harbor Freight Tools was the brightest star, with visits growing 9.4%.

Grocery

Visits to grocery stores rose  0.9%. Aldi led the way, with foot traffic up 12.3%.

Superstores

Visits to superstores grew 0.1%. BJ’s Wholesale Club was the leader, with visits up 4.3%.

X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds