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Salad and Go bankruptcy update: Who’s moving in?

The Salad and Go map is getting redrawn fast. Last week, a bankruptcy judge signed off on 7 Brew‘s purchase of 36 Arizona locations, and a second auction parceled out 34 more to seven different bidders.

The short version: most of those little drive-thru boxes are about to start pouring coffee and dirty soda. A couple will still sell salads. And the chef who started it all just bought back the name.

Here’s what we know right now:

7 Brew’s big buy is official

The judge approved 7 Brew’s $123.5 million acquisition of 63 Salad and Go locations across four states. Thirty of the 36 Arizona sites are in the Valley (the others in Tucson):

  • 4716 E. Ray Road, Ahwatukee
  • 2020 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler
  • 3095 E. Queen Creek Road, Chandler
  • 7480 S. Power Road, Gilbert
  • 910 S. Cooper Road, Gilbert
  • 1660 E. Pecos Road, Gilbert
  • 10031 E. Southern Ave., Mesa
  • 1956 S. Country Club Drive, Mesa
  • 251 S. Power Road, Mesa
  • 2814 S. Signal Butte Road, Mesa
  • 8268 W. Deer Valley Road, Peoria
  • 8220 W. Thunderbird Road, Peoria
  • 12601 N. Paradise Village Parkway, Phoenix
  • 17155 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix
  • 1902 W. Northern Ave., Phoenix
  • 21060 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix
  • 2301 N. 44th St., Phoenix
  • 3233 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix
  • 3333 W. Peoria Ave., Phoenix
  • 710 E. Dunlap Ave., Phoenix
  • 7560 W. Lower Buckeye Road, Phoenix
  • 13838 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
  • 2323 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
  • 15305 N. 87th St., Scottsdale
  • 1804 E. Elliot Road, Tempe
  • 909 E. Broadway Road, Tempe
  • 1585 N. Dysart Road, Avondale
  • 9121 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale
  • 1754 W. Hunt Highway, San Tan Valley
  • 9875 W. Lower Buckeye Road, Tolleson

This is the deal that knocked out Dutch Bros. The Tempe-based coffee chain had offered $105 million for 65 locations before 7 Brew outbid it in the bulk auction.

34 more sites, 7 bidders

On Sept. 30, Salad and Go auctioned off another 34 shuttered sites. These results are not final yet. The bankruptcy judge still has to approve them at an Oct. 14 hearing.

Swig was the day’s biggest shopper. The Utah-based dirty soda chain paid just over $7.3 million for 13 stores, including seven in the Valley:

  • 718573 N. 59th Ave., Glendale
  • 125 N. Estrella Parkway, Goodyear
  • 17171 W. Yuma Road, Goodyear
  • 77 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix
  • 21429 S. Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek
  • 17137 N. Litchfield Road, Surprise
  • 3229 S. 48th St., Tempe

7 Brew picked up an additional four stores, giving it 34 in the Valley if the judge approves. It wrote the biggest single check – just over $2.5 million for a Laveen location:

  • 7480 S. 59th Ave., Laveen

  • 5335 E. Main St., Mesa
  • 4747 E. Cactus Road, Phoenix
  • 14880 N. Northsight Blvd., Scottsdale

Dutch Bros got a consolation prize, snatching five sites. Nearly all of its spend was a Chandler store for $1.3 million. It spent about $46,000 for the other four combined:

  • 4965 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler
  • 3229 S. 48th St., Tempe
  • Three unidentified stores in Phoenix and Surprise

Just Salad, an East Coast salad chain, grabbed two sites, which weren’t identified. It currently has no Phoenix area locations, so these stores will be its first two here.

Chef buys the name

The most interesting line in the auction results is the smallest one.

Beyond Salt and Pepper LLC, an Arizona company owned by Salad and Go founding chef Daniel Patino, bought the chain’s intellectual property (name, recipes, etc.) for $180,000.

It also picked up two store leases for just $1 apiece:

  • 3299 E. Williams Field Road, Gilbert
  • 1040 W. Southern Ave., Mesa

What Patino plans to do with them is not yet clear. But a founding chef holding the brand and two kitchens is at least the outline of a comeback.

(Note: The two other bidders in the Sept. 30 auction acquired non-Arizona locations.)

What happens next

The Oct. 14 hearing is the date to watch. Until the judge approves the Sept. 30 results, none of the 34 additional sales are final.

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