What’s Booming in Retail Now? Offline Fun

A new report from Colliers, in partnership with foot traffic tracker Placer.ai, shows that experiential retail is bucking a troubled economy as people show up in increasing numbers for offline social experiences.

Despite concerns regarding higher tariffs, shrinking job numbers, persistent inflation and a possible recession, gathering spots such as fitness centers, bowling alleys, arcades, axe-throwing venues, miniature golf facilities and entertainment venues are outperforming expectations with persistent growth in foot traffic.

Comparing figures for the first half of 2025 to those for the first half of 2024, the highest increases in foot traffic — after car wash services, which strangely topped all of the measured categories with a 10.3 percent increase — came from theaters and music venues with a 9.2 percent lift, followed by attractions (a catch-all category that includes bowling alleys, arcades, axe-throwing venues and miniature golf facilities) with a 5.6 percent gain, and fitness centers, where foot traffic was up 4.3 percent. 

(While this may not account for their high traffic numbers, a 2021 article in Commercial Observer showed how car washes had become a favorite for investors as well, as their immunity to online trends — matched with long leases and rent coverage ratios at least double their pre-expense earnings due to their fee-simple, triple-net leases — made them an unusually durable asset.)

All of this, Colliers said, signaled a “renewed appetite for experiences that can’t be replicated online.”

“Experiential is still a really hot segment post-COVID,” said Nicole Larson, manager of national retail research for Colliers. “Consumers realized they weren’t willing to give up these types of experiences once they were able to come in contact with people again.”

The report also showed that out of all the chains measured by Placer.ai’s Placer 100 Index of Retail and Dining, which tracks top retail and restaurant brands, Chili’s topped the list with a 21.7 percent increase in average visits per location.

According to Colliers, this shows that “restaurants like Chili’s are thriving not just on price, but on delivering a perceived value experience — proving that dining out remains an important social driver.”

One outlier in the findings counterintuitively reinforces that first point.  Overall, restaurant visits are down 1.6 percent year-over-year.

Larson views this as illustrating that while experiences reign in retail, dollars are still tight, meaning that consumers are maximizing value by having as much fun as possible as inexpensively as they can.

“It’s not that consumers are spending extra in [experiential],” said Larson. “They’re actually starting to give up spending in other categories. Going out to eat is one of the categories they’re giving up in order to keep their spend in experiential.”    

Colliers also took special note of the fitness center traffic growth, indicating that it “signals a long-term consumer commitment to in-person health and wellness.” (Recent figures about the decline in alcohol consumption might lend additional credence to that theory.)

Larson shared several findings with CO that weren’t in the report, including that 30 percent of all retail spending in the first half of the year was driven by the increased tariffs, signaling either the effect of price increases or a fear of them later this year. 

She also offered a preview of the company’s yet-to-be-released July report, in which Chili’s has been displaced from the list’s top ten places, and spending seems to be contracting overall, leading her to conclude that, “We’re heading into a really different second half of the year regarding restaurant and experiential spend.”

But, if we are heading toward a time when economic realities match growing fears, it seems clear that consumers will continue to spend what they can where it matters to them the most.

“Consumers are willing to spend where they feel they’re getting the most bang for their buck,” said Larson. “We had a really strong first half of the year because the consumer is paying attention to what’s going on in the world, and they’re prepared for whatever’s next.”

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.