200-Unit Bakery Enters the Drive-Thru Game

For 45 years, Great Harvest Bakery Cafe has been serving customers in-store, but in a move to offer customers added convenience, the over 200-unit chain is turning to the drive-thru.

The company announced it opened its first drive-thru in Bridgeport, W.V., which it believes will help capture traffic from the nearby office complex and interstate, particularly the morning drive segment.

The accommodate the drive-thru, Great Harvest Bakery Cafe added external menu boards, a drive-thru menu, a POS system and additional fountain beverage and coffee stations to the existing store. “Surprisingly, we added very little labor,” says a company spokesperson.

The chain says it has one more drive-thru in the planning stages currently and will see how it can grow drive-thrus throughout its future franchises.

The brand joins a growing number of brands that have been implementing drive-thrus lately as off-premise traffic continues to go strong post-pandemic. Brands like Smokey Bones, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and Sweetgreen have announced plans this year to roll out drive-thrus.