Thrift, luxury store visits rose in 2025

Article originally posted on HERE on December 30, 2025

Traditional apparel chains were outpaced by two sectors on opposite ends of the cost spectrum when it came to store visits this year.

Foot traffic at thrift stores and luxury chains increased compared to traditional apparel this year, with thrift stores especially seeing large jumps in foot traffic. Outside of February, visits to thrift stores were up more than 5% compared to last year in each month from January to November.

With the exception of a few months, luxury visits hovered near or above 2024 levels for most of 2025, as higher-income shoppers continue to stabilize the segment’s performance. Placer.ai says that both ends of the apparel spectrum appear positioned to succeed this holiday season in the current “bifurcated retail landscape.”

Since 2022, the median household income (HHI) of luxury apparel retailers’ captured markets has continued to rise, which Placer.ai says reinforces the category’s growing dependence on higher-income shoppers as prices climb and more aspirational consumers shift to other segments.

Placer.ai’s data shows that the thrift segment’s captured market median HHI has inched upward since 2022 (although still below the nationwide median of $79.6K) – suggesting that some higher-income consumers are trading down.

And while the thrift segment’s captured market median HHI also decreased slightly in October and November, the decline was less notable than for the luxury segment, which Placer.ai says indicates only limited “leakage” of higher-income thrift visitors during the holiday season.

“While luxury retailers can’t control macroeconomic conditions, they can double-down on the authentic, premium experiences that sustain high-income loyalty and have historically drawn aspirational shoppers during the holidays,” said Ezra Carmel, content writer at Placer.ai. “At the same time, thrift stores can’t simply introduce premium merchandise to attract higher-income shoppers, but they can continue to invest in store operations in ways that enhance the treasure-hunting experience and strengthen their overall value proposition.”