Chipotle Success
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Just the Facts
Chipotle was founded by Steve Ells in Denver Colorado July 13, 1993 near the University of Denver. Steve started by offering a small menu consisting only of a large burrito, tacos, chips and guacamole (Daszkowski, Don, June 28, 2010). He needed to sell 107 burritos a day to be able to make a profit, but in months time he was selling more than 1,000 burritos a day! In February 1998 McDonalds agreed to buy a minority stake in World Foods, which operated Chipotle. Chipotle had 14 stores in Denver and was planning to open stores in Kansas City. Each restaurant made from $1 million to $1.3 million in annual sales. In 2000 McDonalds bought Boston Market and turned some of those stores into Chipotle restaurants. By 2004 thy added 104 new Chipotle stores in that year alone. During this time Ells's "Food with Integrity" program was developed which focused on using better quality sustainable ingredients. In 2003 McDonalds fully divested from Chipotle after adding 500 more restaurants in the U.S. In 2008 837 restaurants had been opened. Including the first international store in Toronto. By the end of March 2013 they have opened 1,458 restaurants. With all this success there would obviously be key factors that have made them be able to expand like they have (International Directory of Company Histories, Vol.67. St. James Press, 2005.).
Chipotle Strengths
In order for a business to succeed the way Chipotle has you have to have many strengths to have come as far as they have. Keeping up with technology is a way that Chipotle had grown. They have a website where you can go on your computer or even your smart phone and you can order from their menu and make your payment with a credit card or debit card. Chipotle hires management from within (Levy, Adam, November 5, 2012) which is strength because they know that their management team knows the business from the start to