Saladworks Comes to Kroger
Saladworks, the fast-casual entrée salad franchise, has now arrived at The Kroger Co. The restaurant chain’s latest in-store location opened Nov. 20 inside a Kroger store in the grocer’s hometown of Cincinnati, at 7900 Beechmont Avenue. On the menu is Saladworks’ range of healthy items, including customizable salads, wraps, soups and more.
In common with stand-alone Saladworks locations, the new Kroger restaurant focuses on customization through its offering of more than 60 fresh ingredients. As well as its Signature recipes, the concept offers create-your-own options for salads, wraps, grain bowls, soups and more, with a small assortment of grab-and-go items. Customers can place in-store orders, order online via the Saladworks website, call ahead for pickup or have their order delivered by third-party delivery partners like Door Dash, GrubHub and UberEats. Saladworks will also provide catering services to shoppers at the Kroger store.
“Grocery stores are an exciting growth area for our brand,” said Eric Lavinder, VP of development for Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Saladworks, which operates 100-plus locations in 18 states and two countries. “With COVID-19 bringing safety challenges to self-serve food bars in grocery stores everywhere, guests can feel safe with Saladworks. Guests can get the same great experience and variety at a grocery location as they can a traditional restaurant.”
The company’s move to open restaurants within grocery chains and other nontraditional venues began in early 2019, when Saladworks opened its first in-store location in Philadelphia. So far, the chain has restaurants in seven grocery stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, with more than 10 new openings planned through first quarter of 2021.
Last month, Saladworks rolled out an in-store restaurant within a Giant Co. store in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
Cincinnati-based Kroger employs nearly half a million associates who serve 9 million-plus customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The company is No. 3 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
