Sweetgreen Launches Sweetlane Drive-Through Concept | Bon Appétit

"A trendsetting fast-casual salad chain founded in 2007 by Georgetown students, this brand built its identity around sleek, city-center storefronts favored by office workers and athleisure-clad millennials, known for $16 bowls of vegetables, warm grains, plain grilled chicken, and kale salads. After rapid metropolitan growth and a $1 billion valuation in 2019 but persistent unprofitability and pandemic-related struggles (including a 20% corporate layoff), the company has pivoted toward greater ubiquity and profitability: digital sales drove the majority of 2021 revenue, the company quietly de-emphasized “local” sourcing language in 2020, and it has begun testing drive-through locations with a suburban rollout. That shift—exemplified by the first countrywide drive-through location—signals likely changes for customers, including reduced emphasis on visible local sourcing, expanded menus (potentially breakfast items or more mainstream sandwiches), and a move away from the original upscale, dine-in power-lunch vibe toward a more conventional, corporate fast-casual presence in suburbs and drive-up formats." - BySam Stone