Economic Impact Dashboard

MARKET OVERVIEW Q1 2026

To gain an understanding of the current business environment and market potential in Downtown Tempe, statistics are collected and analyzed in the retail, residential, and hotel markets on a quarterly basis. In addition, an inventory of all street-level establishments in the downtown district was conducted the week of April 7, 2026.

Retail

There are 165 street-level retail businesses currently downtown. 5 new businesses opened and 5 businesses closed between January - March 2026. Dining remains the dominate retail category with 68 food establishments or 41% of total businesses. 42, or 62% of the dining establishments are independently owned and offer a broad spectrum of cuisine. 8% of businesses are in the nightlife category, and 5% are in the hotel category bringing a total hospitality category to 54%.

112 or 68% of the downtown street-level businesses are considered local & independently owned.
19% are BIPOC-owned businesses
18% are female-owned businesses
There are 23 current street-level vacancies.

Q1 New Businesses

Lizard Head Trading Company

Retail Therapy

Laymoon Cafe

Go Go Avocado

Green Corner

Residential & Hotel

Downtown Visits February 2025 - January 2026

Source: Placer.ai

Highlights from The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities (Downtown Tempe), 2020 International Downtown Association Publication