Data reveals where we’ve been going

Restrictions devastate foot traffic at retail spots

Bars and restaurants are desolate.

Malls and movie theaters are ghost towns.

Supermarkets and stores are far from packed.

Restrictions and measures imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have had a devastating toll on foot traffic at retail locations across the Keystone State, according to cellphone tracking information provided by the data firm Safegraph.

Overall, foot traffic at retail businesses is down 48% from a year ago.

That figure places Pennsylvania 41st in the nation when it comes to which states are closest to matching the foot traffic seen in the past. The states that top the list of most in line with previous figures are Mississippi, Alaska and Oklahoma while the states at the bottom of that list are Hawaii, New Jersey and New York.

Safegraph’s foot traffic dashboard and social distancing scorecard the company released last month are part of a recent effort to use technologydriven data to show mobility trends as a way to gauge how the global pandemic has changed how people interact with their surroundings and participate in the economy.

The California firm tracks cellphone information from millions of people who have opted to share their location through different applications and cross-references it with physical points of interest including stores, restaurants and other retail locations.

When President Donald Trump declared a national emergency March 13, there was an initial rush to supermarkets and other stores. Then visits to retail outlets overall collapsed in the following days when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses to close.

Since then, retail visits have remained deeply depressed, according to the foot traffic dashboard that breaks down the data by industry.

But it also appears to show a slow but steady rise in people’s willingness to venture out as the state begins to lift restrictions. The period covered by the report includes the removal of the stay-at-home order in more that two dozen counties and loosening what businesses could open.

Here’s a look at how the pandemic has impacted foot traffic at businesses categories in Pennsylvania.

• Movie theaters: Foot traffic was just slightly less than a year ago on March 14, but plummeted over the next 10 days to 85% less than 2019. Since then, it has hovered around 87% less foot traffic than the prior year.

• Shopping malls: Foot traffic was just slightly less than a year ago on March 14, but decreased dramatically over the next 10 days to 65% less than 2019. Since then, it has been about 62% less than the year before.

• Bars: Foot traffic was a little less than a year ago on March 14, but fell sharply over the next 10 days to 74% less than 2019. Since then, foot traffic has held steady at that level.

• Sit-down restaurants: Foot traffic was a little higher than a year ago on March 14, but dropped over the next 10 days to 60% less than 2019. Since then, foot traffic has held steady at that level.

• Supermarkets: Foot traffic was slightly higher than a year ago on March 14 and continued to climb to a peak on March 18 of 15% above 2019 levels. Numbers then trended downward, reaching a plateau at 17% below last year’s figures. Since then, the numbers have only had minor fluctuations.

• General retail stores: Foot traffic was slightly higher than a year ago on March 14 and continued to climb to a peak on March 17 of 5% above 2019 levels. Numbers then trended downward, reaching 29% below last year. Since then, the numbers have only have trended upward to 17%.

BEN HASTY — MEDIANEWS GROUP Redner’s cashier Christina Selepcheny hands a customer a package of paper towels at the Redner’s Market in Wyomissing on March 16, where employees were working to keep items in stock with concerns over the developing coronavirus outbreak before mask requirements were in place. Supermarkets saw an increase in foot traffic at the start of the outbreak but now it’s below last year, though not as much as other business categories.