News and Analysis
Report: Consumers Have Mixed Feelings on Spending
When it comes to spring spending in 2025, consumers plan to keep the home fires burning, as the British sang during World War I. In 21st century America, however, nothing spells patriotism like consumerism. Although consumer confidence has been taking a dive this year, falling to a 12-year low in March. With inflation persistent and […]
Skai Says “Yes!” Celeste Has the Answers for Commerce Media
U.S. ad spending on commerce media will surpass $100B by 2028. What is commerce media? Marketers use data from consumer purchases and browsing habits to improve targeting, personalization, and overall campaign effectiveness. After all, if someone is looking for baby clothes, they may also shop for diapers, cribs, and bottles. Leveraging behaviors to boost same-category […]
This Brand Won’t Get Stale!
What brand? Cracker Barrel, of course! Any MULO (multi-location) brand can all get a bit soggy or rancid with time. However, savvy brands must get ahead of the aging process and bring in fresh talent to keep their traffic and revenue appealing. Cracker Barrel, which was founded in 1969, is leaning into that trend and […]
Commentary
BOOM: Barry’s Bulks-up its MULO Brand
The boutique fitness industry is having a moment. And Barry’s (formerly Barry’s Boot Camp) is making moves to grow along with it. With plans to quadruple its 48-location footprint by 2030, Barry’s offers a “unique blend of high-intensity (HIIT) cardio, strength training, music, and signature red lights,” according to a profile of the company CEO […]
Mastering the Retail Supply Chain to Drive Intelligent Outcomes
Retail has been ramping up digital transformation for a few years now, in an attempt to keep pace with consumer expectations for frictionless, more personalized, omnichannel experiences. This transformation has been further accelerated by current external factors like the pandemic, global conflict and economic headwinds. As part of this effort, reimagining supply chain practices has […]
BOOM: Upcycled / Pre-Worn Clothes and the MULO Brands That Sell Them
Buying pre-worn clothes is nothing new. But it’s now in style for a variety of reasons. After all, places like Goodwill have been around since 1902 and have more than 4,000 locations. In the 1960s and 70s, hippies and their wannabe equivalents flocked to army-navy and other surplus stores to buy jackets, overalls, and other […]
Latest Posts
And the Oscar Goes to…
No, this isn’t a big reveal of the Oscar for the best of MULO (multi-location) advertising and media. No ad spending red carpet here. (But watch for our “Dozen” reports each month for key news highlights.) A recent article in Ad Age noted that ad spending on awards ceremonies is still a “star,” despite the […]
Caffeine and Commerce: MULO Coffee Perks
Starbucks and Dunkin may be the giant-size MULO (multi-location) players in the brew space (with 38K and 13K locations respectively). However, coffee is a staple of many consumers’ routines and represents a market size of close to $500B. Many regional and national players are heating up the field and coffee brands are offering a wide […]
Birdeye Social : Insights into Social Media Management
The significance of a robust social media presence cannot be overstated, particularly for multi-location brands aiming to connect with local audiences. Acknowledging the complexities of managing social media across diverse locations, Birdeye, a leading reputation and customer experience platform for local businesses, has just introduced Birdeye Social. With this move, the company is aiming to […]
BUST: Multi-Location Movie Theater Chains Struggle
With Oscar season around the corner, let’s examine the silver screen (or lack thereof). A 100-year-old movie theater MULO (multi-location) operation just declared bankruptcy. Founded in the day of silent films, Metropolitan Theaters has 16 theaters and 87 screens, including two IMAX auditoriums in California, Colorado, and Utah. The pandemic and the rise of the […]
As Cookies Crumble, Lotame Launches Solution to Help Digital Marketers
In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, the ability to harness and utilize data effectively is becoming even more important. Lotame has taken a significant step forward in enabling data collaboration with the launch of Lotame Collaborate and Lotame Onboarding. These innovative solutions, available through their data collaboration platform, Spherical, promise to change how digital […]
BOOM: Industrious Brings Hospitality to Work
This year, about 5M people will use co-working spaces as their offices and meeting places. The concept of shared space has expanded to include podcasting and warehousing/shipping. The concept of co-working is about 30 years old and it is now a cornerstone of the “sharing economy.” As the media was filled with stories of WeWork’s […]
Subscription Fatigue: How Streaming Services Can Keep Customers Happy
Streaming is big business, and looks to only keep expanding in 2024 and beyond – with more players, more dollars to win, more subscribers, and a proliferation of new ad tiers. Eighty-three percent of Americans have at least one streaming service subscription and the average American subscribes to four services. For streaming platforms at first […]
A MULO Brand Scales With a Shark
CEO and Founder of Crispý Cones Jeremy Carlson is on his way to a total of 300 stores across the country. Shark Tank Barbara Corcoran gave him $200K for a 20% interest in his company, which he runs with his wife Kaitlyn. Their back story is a true inspiration to other MULO (multi-location) brands that […]
Navigating the Evolution of Digital Advertising: Merging Innovation with Privacy
Digital advertising is undergoing a seismic shift. Traditional methods no longer capture consumer attention or drive brand impact like they used to. This decline is exacerbated by the increased focus on privacy across platforms and publishers. However, one of the promising byproducts of this change is the emergence of new tools and channels that big […]
The MULO Dozen: February Brands in Review
It’s that time again! Every month, we report on new developments in the MULO (multi-location) space. We cover brands, trends, and the agencies and technologies that serve the MULO (or aspiring MULO) business. Love and the Super Bowl were in the air in February. And we saw our usual range of management and product changes. Have news? […]
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