Salad Station is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with incredible sales growth and the opening of new locations. Over the last ten years, Salad Station has taken a “Dream Job” hobby of a restaurant to a franchise brand of 26 locations and counting. Slated to open additional locations over the next 12 months in Jonesboro TN, Madison MS, Irving TX, Riverview FL, Oxford MS, Clarksville TN, and Prairieville LA, Salad Station will be well on its way to its goal of 100 locations in the next three years. The brand experienced tremendous same-store sales growth in the first half of 2022, with April and May setting monthly records. Salad Station is on pace to exceed 13% same-store sales growth for 2022.
“When we first created Salad Station, we wanted to create a salad concept focusing on fresh ingredients and empower people to create a gourmet salad their way in our local community. With a low-impact footprint, we help carry on the tradition of our Louisiana family farm of connecting our community with fresh local produce. We wanted to be able to offer delicious, gourmet salads and give our community – fast, fresh, and healthier options,” says Scott Henderson, Co-Founder, and CEO of Salad Station. “These past ten years have been a great experience with challenges and growth. Every location we’ve opened is still open. We’ve developed a top-level team, invested in systems to streamline productivity, and we are positioned for rapid expansion over the next 10 years.”
Celebrating 10 years, Salad Station hosted its First Salabration Conference in New Orleans, LA this summer. The conference, attended by over 30 franchise owners and vendors from all over the United States, included two fun-filled days in New Orleans with social events and awards, to keynote speakers highlighting new trends within the industry.
“The Salad Station 2022 conference was one to remember,” says Garrick Robert, Franchise Operations Director of Salad Station. “It was the first time where everyone was able to be together, talk about their success, and learn from one another. We thank the exceptional keynote speakers for delivering insightful presentations that will help us to grow in the future and our Salad Station family for their dedication to the brand. They set the foundation for our future growth.”
With sustained expansion, Salad Station has continued to build a top-notch support system with experienced industry professionals. In the early days of the brand, Salad Station added John Mike Heroman, founder of In and Out Phone Repair Franchise, as Franchise Sales Director. After previous stints at Raising Canes and Smoothie King, Garrick Robert joined the team in 2018 as Franchise Operations Director. Tom O’Keefe, previously president of Smoothie King and Chief Legal of Ruth’s Chris, joined Salad Station as lead counsel.
In 2022, Salad Station continued building its all-star support staff by adding seasoned operational professionals. Stephanie Zito joined the team as Training Director with extensive training backgrounds at Starbucks and Raising Canes. Matt Battey joined the team as a Franchise Business Consultant with experience as operations consultant at Jimmy Johns Corporate and later managing partner of the Drew Brees led Jimmy Johns franchise group. D’Ann Davis, former Director of Sales with Hampton Inn by Hilton, joined as the Public Relations and Local Store Marketing Manager team to help guide Salad Station’s #LettuceHelp initiative in each market.
The brand’s booming success can be attributed to its gourmet and fully customizable menu, low labor requirements, proven operational systems, small waste footprint, and the fact that it is pioneering a new category of salad restaurants that have never been seen before. Salad Station is ready to help business owners grow their portfolio in local communities.
Salad Station is now searching for experienced franchise owners that would like to expand their current portfolio by adding a fast, gourmet, and healthy restaurant with minimal labor that align with the family-focused culture of the brand. As Henderson says, “Our franchising opportunity is perfect for a current franchise owner looking to add a healthy concept to their portfolio of businesses. With a franchise fee of $30,000 the estimated initial investment to open a Salad Station franchise is $192,300- $373,800.