Image Courtesy of Bath & Body Works
In an analysis of Placer.ai data points surrounding the biggest retail sales day of 2025 – Black Friday – Chain Store Age editor Zachary Russell noted that there were a few “surprising” winners on the foot traffic front, as well as a few notable laggards.
Two time frames were considered, both separately and in total – Black Friday itself (Nov. 28 this year, and Nov. 29, 2024), as well as the first three weeks of November for both 2024 and 2025.
Bath & Body Works scored an absolute home run, improving its YoY traffic by a whopping 23.7%, indicating that its refocusing efforts – and strong ad campaigns – are driving renewed interest. Following Bath & Body Works on the winners’ podium: Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (up 16.6%), Ross Dress for Less (up 13.9%), Gap (up 12.5%), Sam’s Club and Lowe’s (both improving by 9.7%), BJ’s Wholesale Club (up 8.2%), Costco (up 7.7%), GameStop (also up 7.7%) -- and HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls (up 6.2%, 5.2%, and 5.1%, respectively).
In sum, the retail sector saw a modest 2.7% improvement in Black Friday foot traffic versus 2024’s figures, but a much more significant 50.7% increase in daily visit averages throughout the first three weeks of the month when compared to last year’s statistic.
“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, CMO 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 general terms] in the calendar and when the pre-Christmas period looks especially poised for a significant spike in overall visits,” he added.
Black Friday 2025: Traffic Downturns and the Return of Mall Prominence
On the other side of the equation, several retailers saw traffic fall off this Black Friday. A list of some of the more notable examples follows:
- Target (flat, showing no traffic improvement).
- Neiman Marcus (also flat).
- Dollar Tree (-0.2%, versus Dollar General, which improved by 5.7%).
- Ulta Beauty (-0.5%).
- Best Buy (-2.1%).
- Dick’s Sporting Goods (-4.2%).
- Kohl’s (-5.3%).
- Macy’s (-5.9%).
- JCPenney (-6.7%).
- Belk (-8.7%).
Aside from the strict rankings, Placer.ai also noted that shopping malls – both indoor (up 3.1% in terms of foot traffic) and open-air (enjoying a 1.7% uptick) – were en vogue in 2025, with outlet malls remaining quiet for Black Friday itself, despite raking in a huge amount of traffic in the lead-up.
"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," Caroline Wu, director of research for Placer.ai, stated.