Dutch Bros is again aiming to buy a handful of shuttered Salad and Go sites after being outbid by Arkansas-based 7 Brew for 73 locations formerly operated by the closed salad drive-through.
The Tempe-based coffee chain submitted a “stalking horse agreement” on five Salad and Go locations, all in the Phoenix metro, according to documents submitted to the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court. A stalking horse bid is an initial offer negotiated before an auction that establishes a minimum price for competing bids.
Dutch Bros offered $4 million for the five locations, which are in Mesa, Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe and Laveen. The five are among the remaining 49 locations that were not already purchased by 7 Brew at auction, according to court
documents.
Dutch Bros, 7 Brew or any other company could still bid on those sites or any of the remaining locations, which are in Arizona, Texas, Nevada and Oklahoma, when the sites go to auction.
Salad and Go abruptly closed all of its locations in early August and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Shortly following the bankruptcy filing, representatives from Salad and Go filed a purchase agreement with the court, announcing that Dutch Bros had submitted the best bid for many of the company’s assets. After the deal with Dutch Bros was made public, lawyers for 7 Brew attended a court hearing, claiming they had made a better bid to buy the shuttered drive-through sites. At the time, 7 Brew’s offer had not been made public.
7 Brew bid $143 million for the assumption of most of Salad and Go’s leases, surpassing Dutch Bros’ offer of $105 million. Dutch Bros’ offer will serve as the backup bid for those locations if 7 Brew fails to close on the sale, according to court documents. Ahead of the bulk auction, Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone said the company had chosen not to submit a higher bid.
"New shop growth is one of the most important drivers of our long-term strategy, and we remain highly confident in our path to 2,029 shops in 2029," Barone said ahead of the first auction. "We’ve always been disciplined in how we allocate capital. While we have chosen not to increase our original offer, we remain engaged in the process and will continue to evaluate opportunities where the total investment provides the appropriate return."
Corina Vanek covers development for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dutch Bros takes another run at shuttered Salad and Go sites
