Saladworks Restaurants Expanding to More ShopRite, Fresh Grocer Stores
Pleased by the consumer response to its first two in-store locations, growing fast-casual restaurant chain Saladworks will open an additional location within a Philadelphia-area The Fresh Grocer, with more to come.
Saladworks’ current in-store locations, both in the Philadelphia area, are Island Avenue ShopRite and Wyncotte The Fresh Grocer. Two new Philly-area locations are also slated to open in ShopRite stores in Roxborough and on Fox Street.
The eatery’s successful pilot restaurant rolled out last year as a 170- to 250-square-foot unit within the fresh produce department at a southwest Philadelphia ShopRite. The in-store locations are part of Saladworks’ move into such settings as airports, military bases and office buildings.
“We have been absolutely thrilled by the results we’ve seen at the pilot location, and we’re confident that an expanded partnership with the ShopRite and Fresh Grocer brands will be hugely beneficial to both parties,” said Eric Lavinder, VP of development at Conshohocken, Pa.-based Saladworks. “This partnership will greatly expand brand awareness for Saladworks and also expand our footprint in nontraditional settings.”
Upcoming ShopRite Saladworks locations will be found within Westville, N.J.-based Brown’s Super Stores Inc., which operates ShopRite and Fresh Grocer locations in the Delaware Valley area. Saladworks is currently partnering with various ShopRite and other major East Coast grocery chain owners that it declined to name; a company spokeswoman told Progressive Grocer, "Saladworks does not want to announce locations or operators until all locations are out of construction and open."
Added Lavinder: “Saladworks is on track for major franchise growth in 2020. We’re looking for hardworking, enthusiastic people who are passionate about providing excellent customer service. We have one of the most supportive franchise systems in the business, and we’re eager to add to our growing franchise family."
The largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp. comprises 50 members that independently own and operate 353 supermarkets under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace and Dearborn Market banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Virginia. Together with its member companies, Wakefern, which is No. 8 on PG’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States, employs more than 70,000 people, and is one of the largest employers in New Jersey.
