From Nation's Restaurant News · · 1m 30s
Sweetgreen's sales and traffic turn positive
Sweetgreen's same-store sales and traffic grow 4% in Q4 after cyclospora outbreak.
In brief
Sweetgreen's same-store sales and traffic grow 4% in Q4 after cyclospora outbreak. Sweetgreen's same-store sales and traffic grew 4% in Q4, raising annual sales guidance to 5.5% decline from 8% to 7%. Originally reported by Nation's Restaurant News.
Sweetgreen's sales turn positive
Sweetgreen's same-store sales and traffic turned positive in October after cyclospora outbreak muted Q3 turnaround.
Q3 sales declined 6.4%
Same-store sales in Q3 were down 6.4% including 4.9% traffic decline and 2.1% product mix decrease.
Cyclospora outbreak impact
The cyclospora outbreak caused 500-basis-point traffic decline but Sweetgreen wasn't implicated in the outbreak.
Q4 sales growth expected
Sweetgreen expects 4% same-store sales growth in Q4 with 3% price increases and 4% traffic growth.
Full-year guidance updated
Sweetgreen raised annual sales guidance from 8% to 7% decline to 5.5% decline after Q4 growth.
New chicken plates launch
Sweetgreen plans to launch rotisserie chicken plates next week to build dinner traffic and attract new guests.
Molly Baz collaboration
Influencer Molly Baz created pickle-spiked menu items that boosted Sweetgreen's price-value perception.
Wrap innovation
Sweetgreen's wrap launches increased frequency with existing and lapsed guests.
Price architecture test
Sweetgreen is testing customizable bowls in 70 units with encouraging guest feedback.
Restaurant growth plan
Sweetgreen plans 10 net new restaurants next year, half the 2026 rate, after 9 permanent closures this year.
Q3 financial results
Q3 revenues rose 2.1% to $176 million with net loss narrowed to $30.7 million.
In short
Sweetgreen's same-store sales and traffic grew 4% in Q4, raising annual sales guidance to 5.5% decline from 8% to 7%.
