Chipotle to Open More Than 250 Locations — Retail Bum

Mexican quick service restaurant (QSR) chain Chipotle is putting its physical expansion into high gear with its plans to open 255 to 285 new restaurants next year.

The new store locations will be designed to support consumers’ evolving ordering preferences in mind, with at least 80% of them supporting digital order drive-thru lanes.

These digital-first pickup lanes at Chipotle restaurants have historically yielded higher ordering volumes and returning customers than the company’s traditional stores. The company currently operates some 500 stores that support the digital drive-thru ordering pickup experience, the latest one of which was opened in Louisville, Kentucky.

“Chipotlanes are the digital drive-thru of the future and a key piece of our growth strategy as we plan to more than double our restaurant count over the long term to achieve 7,000 restaurants or more in North America,” said Tabassum Zalotrawala, Chipotle’s chief development officer.

In addition to its new store openings, the company is testing automated kitchen workflows, mobile-enabled in-store experiences, and location-based technology to offer customers more localized ordering experiences, ChainStoreAge reported.

The company also recently partnered with delivery platform ASAP.com to extend its delivery service to more than 1,000 cities across the U.S.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on November 17, 2022.