After launching on Tampa's Gandy Boulevard, salad drive-thru Greenlane has growth ambitions
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 31, 2023

Greenlane, a salad-focused drive-thru that opened its first location on Tampa’s Gandy Boulevard, has plans to grow in the Tampa Bay region and throughout Florida.

By July, roughly two months after Greenlane opened, sales were beating the company’s projections by 25%, said founder J. Christopher Burch.

“We’re even above projections in a slow period in the summer,” Burch told the Tampa Bay Business Journal, “so we’re ramping up much faster than expected.”

The company has secured two additional properties in the Tampa Bay region:

2055 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa

8011 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg

Total startup investments vary by location, but the average is over $1.5 million, a spokesperson for Greenlane said. Ash Enterprises Inc. was the general contractor on the Gandy Boulevard store, and the spokesperson said the company hopes to work with the same firm on future locations. Greenlane’s food is only for pickup or delivery, and the chain is targeting sites that can accommodate stores around 1,500 to 1,600 square feet and two drive-thru lanes.

“We picked Tampa because it’s one of the fastest-growing cities in the country,” Burch said of the decision to launch the chain here. “There’s also the labor market, and it gave us the best opportunity to grow.”

Greenlane is as focused on nutritious offerings as it is on value, Burch said.

“We’re using very high-quality vegetables [and other items], but at the same time, we’re using a really effective way of managing labor and getting it to the consumer,” Burch said. “We work really, really hard on every cost and are working hard with the suppliers. We’re also trying to be fair with our own margins and give it back to the customer.”