Cava makes its debut in Michigan

Yahoo

22-07-2025

Cava Photo courtesy of Cava
You can find original article here Nrn. Subscribe to our free daily Nrn newsletter.
Cava has opened its first location in Michigan, in the Detroit suburb of Canton, as part of its broader plan to expand across the state.
'We're thrilled to join the Southeast Michigan community and introduce more guests to the bold, vibrant flavors of the Mediterranean,' regional leader Gino Carlin said in a statement. 'Entering the state of Michigan marks our 28th state, and we're eager to welcome more guests in the Midwest and throughout the country to our table to enjoy our Mediterranean cuisine and hospitality.'
The Michigan entry comes on the heels of Cava's debut in Indiana in March and a successful debut in Chicago last year, which chief executive officer Brett Schulman called the company's most successful market opening to date.
The company finished 2024 with 58 net new restaurants for 367 total and is projecting 64 to 68 new units in 2025, including in new markets Detroit and Pittsburgh. It's targeting 1,000 locations by 2032.
Chief financial officer Tricia Tolivar recently told analysts that new restaurants are performing strongly.
'The cohort that opened in Q4 is performing at average weekly sales levels above 2023,' she said. 'We're still early in looking at these restaurants and understanding how they're going to behave, but we feel very confident in our ability to deliver $2.3 million (average unit volumes) in year one with 10% growth driving to $2.5 million and then 8% growth in the following years.'
Cava's first quarter earnings included a 10.8% increase in same-store sales driven by 7.5% traffic growth. During its quarterly earnings call in May, Schulman said "we continued to demonstrate the strength of our category-defining brand, further cementing Mediterranean as the next major cultural cuisine category."
Contact Alicia Kelso at [e-mail]