Operations

The Melt oozing record-breaking sales

Provided

November 10, 2021

The Melt, a San Francisco-based restaurant known for its MeltBurgers and all-American comfort food, has posted record-breaking sales for Q3 2021. They're up 75% from 2019, for example, and 25% above the chain's record in 2020, according to CEO Ralph Bower, who attributed the numbers to the brand's focus on serving local communities and strengthening the connection with its team members.

At the onset of the pandemic, The Melt addressed community and team member fears by keeping all restaurants open despite historically low-level revenue and guaranteeing team member paychecks — whether they came into work or not. With widespread shelter-in-place restrictions early on, the company offered first responders their meals for free, eventually donating over 24,000 meals.

"The decisions we made at the onset of the pandemic felt like the right things to do for our teams and for our communities," Bower said in a company press release. "We never dreamed there would be such a positive response and that our business would grow throughout this pandemic. We prioritized having the backs of our team members and our community, and as it turned out, they had ours as well."

With so much of its customer community kept inside, The Melt pivoted during the pandemic to expand its delivery service and extend operating hours. As a result, delivery grew from 15% of its order volume pre-pandemic to well over 50% today. Although indoor dining has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, delivery is still up 500%.

Preparing to grow with more California restaurants in 2021, The Melt, which has seven units, also recently began partnering with digital food halls to extend delivery reach to nearby Bay Area communities. Partnerships with Local Kitchens, Unfurl Cuisine and DoorDash Kitchen allow customers to now order The Melt from Cupertino, San Jose, San Mateo and Lafayette with more locations on the way.

"In what has been perhaps the most challenging 18 months ever in the restaurant industry, I could not be prouder of the work and dedication from our team," Bower said. "Our teams have not only shattered sales records as we rose to the challenge of a new operating environment, but also received numerous awards for public service for actions taken in support of first responders. I can't wait to see our future. If we can achieve this during a pandemic, there's nothing we can't achieve together."