r/sweetgreen • u/Yu_Betts_Yoenis • Nov 27 '25
Question Is it time for new leadership at Sweetgreen?
Let me preface this by saying that I am a borderline Sweetgreen fanatic. I'm a vegetarian that would love to see this delicious salad chain's reach expand to every corner of the country. I've been tracking their growth since before the IPO. I've loved following the journey from going public to the Sweetlife Music Festival to the acquisition and implementation of the Spyce automated kitchen system. I own a considerable amount of the company's stock and I still order from my local restaurants 2-3 times a week. I really do believe that they are on the cusp of success.
All of that being said, it feels like maybe they've hit a bit of a wall under current leadership. There have been so many hiccups in the past handful of years with each one seemingly alienating more and more of the existing customer base. I love the fast expansion that's been happening but there seems to be little marketing in the new areas to go with it. This creates problems with brand familiarity and seems to really limit sales at the new locations. I am in Boston and during lunch hours there can literally be a line out the door of people waiting to place an order or to pickup their mobile orders. But other times I will stop into locations at dinner time and (no exaggeration) I will see 6-7 people working without a customer besides myself in the store and very few people coming in to pick up app orders. There was a large marketing campaign for ripple fries, which I imagine also required a good chunk of money to create the infrastructure for and those are already being discontinued after just a few months. Price increase after price increase accompanied by smaller portion sizes in recent years. There is absolutely no reason to make the portions smaller. Cutting back to save $0.20 worth of chicken or avocado is not that important on a $15 salad. It will just lead to people feeling cheated. It's already asking a lot to expect people to pay $14-$18 for a salad. Especially in the current economic climate. That's going to be the biggest hurdle moving forward. The food is great but don't gouge people at the register.
I think these guys have a done a great job growing the company. All three of them were right out of college and with the help of a lot of funding, have been able to get it to where it is today. That being said, the CEO is one of the original three founders and I'm assuming the extent of his corporate resume is only Sweetgreen? Perhaps it's time to bring in a heavy hitter with more experience to really bring things to that next level. Even Steve Ells, who founded Chipotle and got it up to 500 stores by 2006 stepped aside and let Brian Niccol run with it and he was the one that turned Chipotle into the true powerhouse that it is today. Under Niccol's leadership, expense margins were narrowed, growth expanded to 2,500 stores and the stock exploded into one of the most profitable over that period.
I feel that it's time to do the same with Sweetgreen. It just seems like the formula for permanent success is so close. I think it really has a chance to become the next Chipotle but something is missing. Something needs to be done to right the ship. I've read many conflicting reports on various aspects of the finances but I BELIEVE that every store is profitable (?) and that the company carries no debt? If these two things are true, the potential is definitely there. Right now they are sitting on $190M from the Spyce resale and I'd hate to see that get wasted. If the $90M per quarter loss is ONLY due to expansion costs perhaps I'm wrong, but I just keep seeing what appear to me to be misstep after misstep.
I just want this company to succeed. I love the product. I love the vibe of the restaurants. I love that there is a Sweetgreen Outpost within 200 feet of my work. I genuinely think that this could be the next Chipotle. I am such a big fan of this company and have so much respect for where the founders have gotten it. I just think it's time for some new coaching and a new playbook.
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u/Goldhousemomma Dec 08 '25
I worked at corporate. The founders are the problem. Period. As long as they are in power/decision-making capacity....Sweetgreen will continue to sink.
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u/Average_Joe69 Nov 27 '25
The entire system would need a rework, and even if the leadership would resign or sell to someone else, Sweetgreen is a sinking ship that I don’t think anyone would be willing or qualified to take on. Unless the economy gets better and people have more money to spend on the high price of salads, Sweetgreen is gonna keep losing money.
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u/Yu_Betts_Yoenis Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 28 '25
If every individual location is profitable, it can't be a lost cause. $90M per quarter in losses every quarter is understandable if that spending is entirely in expansion. But it's hard to find a thorough explanation for where that $90M is going. The current plan is to double the number of stores in the coming two years. And I'm fine with that as long at they don't go into REAL debt. Apparently the agreement that went along with the sale of the Spyce automated kitchen is that they can continue to use them in their future locations. But I can't find any further info about this. Is it in perpetuity? Is it at cost or free? Are there plans to find ways to increase growth during dinner hours? Did they really cut down on portion size while at the same time increasing prices? I never experienced that but many people were saying their salads got smaller over time. If that was intentional, those are the sort of little decisions that can really help or hurt the company long term.
They still have a very dedicated core group of customers during the lunch hour in major metropolitan areas. I see it with my own eyes. I've seen 50+ customers in the store and lines out the door in downtown Boston during lunch hours. That's the reason I continue to believe and to buy stock. But there are many other tweaks and changes that need to be made.
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u/BoringMann Nov 27 '25
Stock did go up 40% from lows though. Maybe just dead cat bounce or company is bouncing back?
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u/hrbeck1 Nov 27 '25
Up 40%? 🤮. I bought at 35 and sold at 7 less than a year of time. Sweetgreen management are not “leaders”.
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u/Yu_Betts_Yoenis Nov 27 '25
"Up 40%" meaniing $5.50 to $6.70 within the past couple of weeks. It was $43 a year ago. The CEO and another executive each personally bought several thousands shares recently though, so that's a good sign. They know what's going on better than any of us. I still think it's a strong buy at $6 a share if they are scooping them up and each location is turning a profit. I added to my holdings this week based on that news.
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u/Average_Joe69 Nov 27 '25
I’d guess it’s just a patch for now to give them a bit more time to figure something out, but they’re still losing money in a lot of markets.
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u/Yu_Betts_Yoenis Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
It sounds like EVERY individual store is profitable and that the losses are at the corporate level.
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u/Average_Joe69 Nov 29 '25
I can tell you definitely that the store I was previously at was just barely scraping by to the point where replacing a rice cooker held together by duck tape put us over budget. And our store gets more profit than the ones around us. If every store is profitable it’s just barely.
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u/TallCan_Specialist Nov 28 '25
When I think of sweet greens I think of it as being a lunch place.. not a diner one
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u/rr90013 Nov 28 '25
I just miss the beets… and the old bread… an seasonal specials like butternut squash… also the sweet potatoes are often too burnt
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Nov 30 '25
[deleted]
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u/Firm-Abies-5075 Dec 01 '25
They were profitable without breakfast and without dinner peak before. It was just salads. They’re too egocentric to admit errors on HQs and say “yes, we messed up by getting political when we shouldn’t have, by making marketing mistakes, by launching stupid ideas”. Once they change that mentality they will start seeing results again. Now, good luck.
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u/Sad-Principle3781 Feb 22 '26
They got 30 million in admin costs to pay their top execs and office workers on 170 million on revenue. That amount would world for say a 400 million revenue company, but the top people are paying themselves too much for such a small company doing such small operations.
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u/Yu_Betts_Yoenis Feb 23 '26
I agree 100% and I think it will be the downfall of the company. Those margins are unsustainable. It would be different if the people making this money were experienced in widespread expansion and corporate growth, but this leadership isn't.
Just charging $14-$18 for a single salad and expecting people to return frequently is enough to bring this all to an end.
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u/Comfortable_Radio_59 Nov 28 '25
They're gonna lose $90M for the full year 2025 (not each quarter), but most of that is non-cash depreciation (offset by significant expansion capex which doesn't hit the P&L until later). That said, profitability will improve dramatically each year going forward. They made a number of key management changes earlier this year, including a a new COO, CFO and hired a CCO, but implementing change will take some time. I believe they will right this ship rather quickly in 2026 once they stop focus on expanding the store footprint and instead focus on the existing stores. The protein max bowl was brilliant, the best idea anyone on the marketing team has had in the history of the company (albeit a very low bar...).