News and Analysis
SMBs versus Giants: The Street Fight Escalates
When Street Fight was founded about 12 years ago, the fight was defined as the battle between small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) and big multi-location (MULO) brands. Technology and location finding were still in their early stages, and consumers were just beginning to use their smartphones to find “near me” businesses at which to spend. […]
Skai Reveals New Report on the State of Retail Media
Retail media has become critically important in the marketing mix and is now a part of the plans for 92% of consumer products companies, according to Skai’s just-published 2025 State of Retail Media report. Brands are Focused on ROI Despite the massive investment in this channel, marketers are still unsure how to measure it. A […]
The MULO Dozen: January in Review
January, the first month of 2025, was jam-packed with announcements of leadership changes, innovative new store designs and menu items, and game-changing technologies. Brands are suiting up for the Super Bowl. The TikTok “pause” created mass panic among influencers and agencies. As the 2025 progresses, watch this space for the trends, perspectives, and data that […]
Commentary
BUST: Walk-In Weight Loss Jenny Craig Trims Down (and Disappears?)
Jenny Craig once had more than 600 locations and nearly $500M in revenue. But, like many industries, digital communications have been part of its downfall. The company announced this week that, after 40 years, they are shuttering all their locations. What are the factors that precipitated the massive change? New solutions for weight loss are […]
BUST: The Very Public Demise of Bed Bath & Beyond
Who will remember the brand Bed Bath & Beyond in a few years, and what will they say? Only time will tell, but in the interim, the retail media has had no fodder shortage over the past few weeks, dissecting how and why this iconic multi-location brand declined and ultimately declared bankruptcy. Monday morning quarterbacks […]
Pop Goes the Pop-Up Shop — For Big Brands and Mom & Pops
The Pop-up shop has long been part of the retail and restaurant landscape. They are temporary locations. Multi-location brands may take their products into small footprints or new configurations and venues and small brands may start with a limited-run concept and then expand it. 5 Pop-Up Models Some are seasonal. For example, Bryant Park in […]
Latest Posts
Empowering Brick-and-Mortar Businesses with Foot-Traffic Analytics for Effective OOH
In today’s competitive marketplace, brick-and-mortar businesses constantly seek innovative strategies to attract and retain customers. Recognizing this need, DOmedia, in partnership with location analytics leader Placer.ai, has launched PeopleToMySpot.com—a innovative website tailored to help local marketers and business owners harness the power of foot-traffic analytics to enhance their out-of-home (OOH) advertising efforts. The collaboration between […]
More Evidence Online Advertising Finished Strong
When Tinuiti released its Digital Ads Benchmark Report for Q4 2023 on Jan. 25, the findings offered still more proof that the year finished strong, at least for online advertising. “While we did expect stronger growth in Q4 2023 as the ad market continues to recover from 2022, there were still questions heading into the […]
How Many Storefronts Do You Need? MULO Logic
The mattress company Purple became a huge success on Shopify when it first launched. It then expanded into retail locations. Last year, the company took a close look at its brick-and-mortar retail storefronts and saw that a third of its physical stores were struggling. Like many brick-and-mortar MULO (multi-location) businesses, expanding from online sales to retail […]
Online Retail Did Well in 2023
In hindsight, 2023 may not have been as gloomy an economic year as first thought. At least not for online retail in certain global regions. According to findings from data and insights company Consumer Edge, many online retailers and those in the pet products/services, discount/club stores, ground transportation, health products/services grocery and limited-service restaurants saw […]
BOOM: Mini Golf Goes Maxi
Even if you may never be a star on an international golf tour, you can beat your friends and family to a rousing game at indoor mini golf. Puttshack, which opened two mini golf locations in 2021 has rapidly grown to 11 nationally in: Nashville Boston Chicago Dallas Houston St. Louis Pittsburgh Miami Denver Scottsdale […]
This Channel Could be Bowling Brands Over
Move over, Ralph Kramden. Bowling is becoming one of the most popular activities in the United States. According to data released last year from Ipsos, it was among the most “played” sports in 2022. Right after Cornhole, which 20% of Americans played, bowling drew 19%. Swimming was third at 18%. Statista posits that about 45 […]
BOOM: The Skinny on FAT Brands
FAT Brands sends us regular news announcements about their growth, menu updates, and company strategies. We’re wowed by their speed of franchise innovation. We reached out to their executive team to get insights into the FAT philosophy and forward-looking path. As a MULO (multi-location) brand, they are clearly one of the gentle yet powerful giants. […]
Technology MULO Brands Need Today, According to RizePoint
Paul Damaren is the Chief Revenue Officer at RizePoint. The company develops technology for the restaurant, hospitality, retail, and processing industries. Although their tool suite helps these MULO brands with compliance, they are also designed to “help brands create a culture of excellence and ensure that every customer experience is as good (and safe) as […]
Beware the “Brobot?” The Women of AI
At CES (where AI was the buzzword this year), a group of women gathered to discuss the role of women in technology, and specifically in artificial intelligence. AI is already having an impact on all aspects of the MULO (multi-location) retail and restaurant ecosystem — from real-time analytics to inventory management and security. According to […]
An Infusion of Franchise Savvy from Dana Kupper of PrimeIV
Dana Kupper was inspired by her husband (a brand ambassador for PrimeIV since 2019) to become the owner/operator of an IV franchise. (She also has a corporate job at American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts.) We’ve written about the BOOM of the needle and how MULO (multi-location) businesses that provide health-related infusions are on the […]



















































Scaling Seasonal SEO Across Locations With AI Insights