Greenstreat to open three stores in Melbourne after success in Albury, Wodonga and Brisbane

Greenstreat is set to launch its first Melbourne shop in Richmond later in November and has plans to open a further two in the Victorian capital early in 2023.

Co-founder Jackson McGrath said the business, which has stores in Albury, Wodonga and Brisbane offering fresh salads, burritos and smoothies, had a goal to branch into Melbourne and the time was right.

"Melbourne has always been close to the McGrath family's hearts. We've obviously grown up in restaurants and always did our research in Melbourne with mum and dad, so we knew it was always the goal to get to the pinnacle of food in Australia," Mr McGrath said.

"We've tested the product in different areas and we think it's time to hit Melbourne and tick off that milestone for Greenstreat. I think when we do it, and do it successfully, we won't look back.

"Before we opened in Albury, we said 'if you can make it in Albury you can make you can make it anywhere' and we did that with flying colours.

"We said the same with Brisbane and now Melbourne, so I think it's just the motto moving forward."

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Mr McGrath said plenty of lessons had been learned from the Brisbane store before entering the Melbourne market, particularly the demand for pre-ordered food.

"The Brisbane breakdown of pre-order to in-store sales is about 40-60 and that in-store service still has a line 50 metres long, so you can imagine what's going on in pre-order," he said.

"That's given us a real wake-up call of what can happen in Melbourne. People don't have time to wait, they just want to make sure their meals are there on the shelf when they arrive.

"Although we've only got three shops currently, we feel like we're almost leading the pack with the tech side of things with our own app."

Mr McGrath said Greenstreat had 140 staff across its three stores and team members on the Border had taken up opportunities to move to Melbourne.

"It allows us to have confidence in our team and not have to worry about franchising to someone that you don't know," he said.

"We've got kids that started with us when they were 16 and now they're getting towards that 20 to 21 age bracket and going down to university and are looking for that next challenge.

"With three stores we're at 140 staff, but we'll pretty much double that in Melbourne with three more opening.

"There's some challenges with getting 140 staff in a matter of four months, but we'll make it work."

Greenstreat's Wodonga store recently celebrated its first year in business.

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