Sweetgreen

Operations

Sweetgreen to open first drive-thru location

The first ‘Sweetlane’ is scheduled to open Tuesday in a Chicago suburb, adding to the chain’s growing portfolio of formats.

Technology

Sweetgreen to test fully automated restaurants next year

Using the Spyce technology acquired last year, the fast-casual concept said the robotic makelines could be “transformative.”

You’ve eaten your vegetables. Now you can have a gluten-free Crispy Rice Treat.

This unit in Washington, D.C., has no dine-in seating and no front makeline.

The Bottom Line: Both companies appear to be getting traction in the suburbs. But they have a big foot in slow-to-recover urban areas.

The salad chain is cutting costs to get to profitability after it warned that sales and profits would be below expectations. The news sent the company’s stock price plunging.

The salad chain, which did away with its loyalty program last year, said it hopes its new Rewards and Challenges program will boost customer frequency.

But the salad chain reported Thursday that its same-store sales climbed 35% during the first quarter and earnings rose 67% over the year before.

The drive-thrus resemble Chipotle Mexican Grill’s successful Chipotlanes and are part of Sweetgreen’s broader suburban strategy.

The fast casual launched the office building drop-off program in 2018 and was up to 1,000 Outposts before the pandemic hit.

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