7 Brew outbids Dutch Bros for 73 former Salad and Go locations

☕️ If you’ve driven past a shuttered Salad and Go lately and wondered what’s next for that empty drive-thru lane, we’ve got your answer: 7 Brew coffee. A lot of 7 Brew coffee.

The Arkansas-based chain has won the bankruptcy auction for 73 former Salad and Go locations, agreeing to pay roughly $143.2 million for the real estate portfolio – and in the process, elbowing past Dutch Bros. This other drive-thru darling wanted those same sites.

Salad and Go filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 4, and its original plan was to hand a chunk of its real estate to Dutch Bros for $105 million, covering locations across Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Oklahoma. That deal looked done until 7 Brew jumped in, objecting to how the bid was selected and forcing a head-to-head auction between the two beverage chains.

The auction happened Monday. 7 Brew came in as lead bidder, and when the moment came for Dutch Bros to counter, it passed.

Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone framed the decision as capital discipline rather than a retreat, noting the company remains committed to its longer-term growth targets and will keep evaluating deals that pencil out on return. Dutch Bros walks away with a $3.8 million termination fee for its trouble, plus expenses, if the 7 Brew deal actually closes.

What 7 Brew is getting

The 73-site package breaks down as:

• 41 in Arizona
• 20 in Texas
• 6 in Nevada
• 6 in Oklahoma

Zoom into the Valley specifically, and the incoming 7 Brew map includes 11 in Phoenix, five in Mesa, three each in Gilbert and Scottsdale, and two in Tempe. That’s a dramatic jump for a chain that, as of this week, had exactly three locations in Arizona – two in Tucson and one that opened last week in Queen Creek.

Not every closed Salad and Go site made the cut; some sit too close to existing coffee competitors to make sense for 7 Brew, and those will be sold off separately later.

Beyond the real estate

Salad and Go grew fast out of its Gilbert roots – 146 restaurants at its peak – before financial strain caught up with it. The company raised about $27 million in extra capital over the winter before bankruptcy proved unavoidable, triggering roughly 70 closures as it retreated from Texas and Oklahoma to refocus on Arizona and Nevada.

7 Brew, meanwhile, is on the opposite trajectory. The stand-alone drive-thru concept has topped 800 locations across 38 states, added a net 562 shops over the last three years, and pulled in $1.2 billion in sales last year with a $2.6 million average unit volume. Scooping up dozens of already-built, already-permitted drive-thru boxes is about as fast a growth hack as exists.

Is it official yet?

Not quite. A bankruptcy court hearing is set for Sept. 21 to approve transferring the leases and contracts to 7 Brew, and landlords or other interested parties have until Sept. 17 to raise objections. 7 Brew also has some flexibility to walk away from individual leases if a site doesn’t pencil out operationally. Barring a surprise, though, this is expected to go through as announced.