LAS VEGAS—Earlier this week Shake Shack opened its first drive thru in Minnesota. It was an about-face for the food retailer as its CEO had said from the company's start that it would never have a drive thru. But then about three years ago, executives began to realize drive thrus would capture a wider audience in some markets. Then came Covid, when food retailers and restaurants doubled down on this format amid the need for social distancing.
After that, the company leaned into drive thrus, Carren Coston, ICSC trustee and vice president of real estate and development at Shake Shack Enterprises, related at the national ICSC conference here in Las Vegas. "We are opening two in the next two weeks and we have quite a few in the next year," she said during a panel session.
Like everything else retail related, the pandemic has made an indelible impression on the sector's dining concepts and formats. Drive thrus are in; so is take out. Fine dining was, for quite some time, out. Fast casual is in. Some of these trends will reverse as the pandemic one day wanes but others appear here to stay, such as Shake Shack' embrace of the drive thru. In fact, the company is also looking at other formats, Coston said, such as smaller restaurants, possibly with no seats. "We have a lot to learn from the drive thru first."
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
