Retail locations have long been part of weekly shopping routines while also serving as social hubs for people to gather and socialize. But the rise of e-commerce reduced the need for extended in-store browsing, driving traffic declines at department stores, malls, and other retailers that once doubled as hangout spots. Streaming services had a similar effect on movie theaters and entertainment venues.
The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these shifts. Lockdowns not only fueled e-commerce adoption but also halted visits to gyms, theaters, and other third places. As a result, many consumers transitioned even more quickly from spending leisure time in public spaces to shopping, exercising, and entertaining themselves at home.
However, over the past year, it’s become apparent that consumers are once again looking to spend time in places outside their home that provide experience, products, and services. Perhaps driven by younger consumers' love for in-store shopping, visiting physical locations is once again en vogue.
The rise of retail as a third place challenges the notion that malls and stores are dying, and may help retailers and brands find new ways to engage consumers outside of their homes and offices. And, for retail centers and chains that have evolved into third places for visitors, visits are on the rise in 2025 – despite consumer pullback on discretionary activities.
Bookstores, gyms, and malls are just three examples of retail categories that are emerging as third places.
Barnes & Noble Turns The Page
As one of the first retail categories to be disrupted by the e-commerce revolution, book stores have faced almost insurmountable challenges to their business model. Many chains have failed to adapt to changing shopper needs, but Barnes & Noble has emerged as a true outlier that has maintained and even expanded its brand equity with consumers. Visits to the retailer grew 9% year-over-year (YoY) between January and July 2025 – a stark contrast to the challenges that many discretionary retailers have faced.
Barnes & Noble's key to success? Becoming a place for consumers to hang out instead of solely a place to shop. Almost 50% of visits to Barnes & Noble this year lasted more than 30 minutes, a sign that consumers spend more time at the chain than in traditional retail settings. In-store experiences, such as the Barnes & Noble Café, which offers free Wi-Fi, or localized events, encourage shoppers to stay longer and relax. As consumers look for more ways to spend their free time out of their homes or in other convenient locations, the Barnes & Noble retail formula appears to be working quite well.
Fitness Studios Strengthen Consumer Relationships
One area of entertainment & retail that has returned to its pre-pandemic trend is the fitness industry. In-person workouts could have been a thing of the past as consumers purchased in-home fitness equipment, but it’s now become clear that people crave the in-person experience or working out at a gym or in a group fitness class.
Fitness venues have been bolstered by consumers’ shifting desires, leading to growth in foot traffic for the category. Visits to studios and gyms were up 6% YoY between January and July 2025, which is especially impressive when taking the current economic climate into consideration. Visits to fitness locations may also have been positively impacted by increased availability and use of GLP-1 medications, as consumers embrace a more health and wellness-centered lifestyle.
Think that consumers only visit fitness centers to work out? In many cases, these spaces offer much more. For example, fitness chain Life Time – which calls its locations “athletic country clubs” – provides a variety of amenities to visitors beyond fitness equipment. This broader approach has helped the chain to become a lifestyle center for members, a true extension of the third place concept. Life Time locations see a higher percentage of visits over the weekend than the overall category, and their average length of stay is over 90 minutes, 20 minutes higher than the overall category.
Malls, Once Again, The Place to Be
Malls are also reclaiming their dominance in the retail industry, one center at a time. A new generation of consumers is embracing the mall concept as a place to spend time and socialize, and mall operators have responded with new tenants and concepts that have made malls more relevant to today’s audience.
Indoor mall venues, specifically, have seen a rise in visitation in 2025, mirroring last year's trends and showcasing that the revival of the mall isn’t just a flash in the pan. The rebound has been slow and steady, and larger centers that have had the ability to add more dining and experiential venues are leading the charge.
Looking at the percentage of hourly visits to indoor malls, the hours between 1 PM and 6 PM tend to see the highest distribution of visits, indicating that shoppers may view the mall as the perfect venue to pass a few hours in the afternoon or post-work.
Not only have malls been the beneficiary of increased traffic and dwell times, but tenants have also seen a rise in performance. Department store chains like Nordstrom and Dillard's have both seen an increase in traffic in 2025, a sign that winning malls support retail growth across the country.
Elizabeth Lafontaine is Director of Research at Placer.ai.
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