With two weeks until Memorial Day, the weekend’s usual advertising suspects are nowhere to be found. So is their absence a late start to what has historically been a major retail window for the category, or a portent of shifting strategies as tariffs stoke fears?
While traditional Memorial Day holiday sale staples like Macy’s and Mattress Firm are finally showing signs of a seasonal push, landing at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, on this week’s Media Monitors Spot Ten chart for May 5–11, home improvement giants Lowe’s and Home Depot remain conspicuously absent from the Top 10.
By mid-May in previous years, both brands would have been major players in radio’s top advertiser ranks, touting everything from grills and garden tools to patio sets and paint.
Meanwhile, Wendy’s made a significant leap, climbing from No. 9 to No. 2. The fast food brand appears to be launching a pre-summer marketing blitz, focused on seasonal menu items and national promotions. Fortunately for radio, its rise signals that some major brands are wasting no time tapping into early summer momentum and that QSRs may be hot, as they seek more inroads into limited consumer budgets.
Progressive held its usual spot at No. 1, with Upside, Discover, and ZipRecruiter rounding out the top five.
Whether it’s a delayed start or a deliberate retreat, the absence of Home Depot and Lowe’s from the Top 10 raises real questions about how radio’s big spenders are recalibrating in the face of inflation, tariffs, and evolving media habits. If Memorial Day is still the unofficial kickoff to summer sales, next week’s chart may show whether the season’s biggest players are fashionably late – or quietly sitting this one out.
