In a continuous effort to boost sales and attracted more customers after it’s devastating E. Coli outbreak, Chipotle Mexican Grill is now offering happy hour specials on alcoholic drinks.
At about 300 restaurants in eight states, including Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the burrito chain will offer happy hour specials on alcoholic drinks which include half-price drinks and two-for-one drinks specials, although the deals differ in each state.
CNBC reports that more than 1,700 Chipotle (CMG) chains serve alcohol. Some offer beer and margaritas, where others offer just beer. Although alcohol only makes up only 2% of the chain’s sales, Chipotle could use any help they can get, as its sales are down more than 47% over the past year.
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Chipotle has attempted to lure customers back with promotions, like offering free burritos and even launching its first-ever customers rewards program. But its efforts are not as fruitful as the chain had hoped. In July, Morgan Stanley conducted a survey that found 25% of Chipotle’s customers have stopped going or aren’t going as frequently, and warned that a full recovery of Chipotle’s sales could take years.
In the three months that ended in June, Chipotle’s comparable store sales fell 23.6%—3.2 percentage points more than analysts polled by FactSet had expected.
If the chain’s alcohol promotion is a success, it has the potential to be offered in other parts of the country, CNBC reports.
“Unfortunately, I think only time is going to help them with the sales hole,” Darren Tristano, president of Technomic, told CNBC. “I think consumers are very forgiving, but it’s going to take more time.”
Coins2Day has reached out to Chipotle for comment and will update the story if it responds.
