Let A Thousand Chipotlanes Bloom
Delivery powers Walmart Q3 growth, Nuro & LOXO expand, top restaurants
Oooh — today we’ve got a little something for everyone: blossoming order pickup infrastructure, strong financial results, a contentious map of America’s dining capitals and a big AV expansion — read on!
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore 2025.
Today:
One Thousand Chipotlanes
Walmart Delivers Strong Q3
Chart Time | Top Restaurants Nationwide
Nuro & LOXO Expand AV Deliveries
OPERATIONS | Chipotle Opens 1,000th Chipotlane
This Thursday, Chipotle is celebrating the opening of its one thousandth Chipotlane, the burrito builder’s innovative mobile ordering pick-up / drive through lane. The numerologically blessed store is located in Olathe, Kansas, in the greater Kansas City region. Chipotle has no plans to slow down, as it plans for at least 80% of the 285-315 restaurants it plans to open next year to feature the special lanes. Chipotle finds that the pickup lanes demonstrate higher volume and greater repeat transactions than standard format locations.
The Big Picture: Chipotle debuted the innovative concept in 2018, and opened its 500th almost exactly two years ago, meaning its continuing to pick up the pace of deployment. Ease and expediency are the name of the game when it comes to online ordering and pick up, and Chipotlanes (as well as similar offerings like Chick-fil-A’s Mobile Thru) make it all the easier for customers and couriers to say “yes” to a burrito bowl.
EVENTS | Delivery & Mobility Comes Together at Curbivore 2025
Industry Dive just called Curbivore one of the “9 restaurant industry trade shows to attend in 2025.” Returning to the Downtown LA Arts District this April 10th and 11th, Curbivore brings together the world’s foremost fleet operators, restaurateurs, regulators, retailers, startups, technologists and policy makers to discuss the intersection of transportation systems, small business, urban design and commerce.
Score your Early Bird Tickets now and save.
FINANCE | Delivery, Ecommerce Drive Walmart Q3 Gains
Walmart just delivered its Q3 financial results, showing that the mega retailer is firing on all cylinders. Consolidated revenue grew 5.5% (6.2% constant currency) to $169.6 billion, while gross margins improved 21 basis points. Income jumped 8.2% to $6.7 billion. The Bentonville Big Boxer also raised its guidance for the rest of the year, pushing its stock up about 4%.
The Big Picture: Walmart isn’t just moving a lot of product, it’s doing so in the ways that should make any Modern Delivery reader proud. Ecommerce grew 22% YoY. Store-fulfilled delivery grew almost 50% and now has a $2.5 billion+ monthly run rate. Walmart Connect, its advertising business, grew 26%, while membership income also grew by double digits. Heck, the retailer is even celebrating the expansion of cashierless checkout, as it makes its Sam’s Club brand more tech-optimized.
CHART TIME | America’s Top 100 Restaurants
It’s the end of the year, so it must be time for companies to pump out “best of” content marketing left and right. OpenTable has a fun one, noting the top 100 restaurants nationwide. Chartifying it — we must — you can see that California leads the way at 19, followed by Illinois and Texas at 10. Not all populous states do well, Florida only has four. Fourteen of California’s top restaurants reside in SoCal, making it the country’s best dining mega-region (no duh.) On the more delivery-oriented side of things, Uber’s also released its cravings report, finding that Americans love beer + hot dogs.
AV | Nuro, LOXO Expand AV Delivery Vans
Nuro announced the expansion of its on-road autonomous delivery vehicle service, now covering 83% more service area in the SF Bay Area and 70% more service area in Houston, TX. The Mountain View, CA-based company’s also improving its Level 4 autonomy tech stack, which now can operate on multi-lane roads at speeds of up to 35 MPH, as well as at night.
The Big Picture: Europeans are getting in on the action too, as Switzerland’s LOXO is expanding to Munich, Germany. LOXO’s hardware looks like a cross between Nuro and Robomart, features Level 4 autonomy as well as remote operations, and works with European giants like Schindler and Migros.
A Few Good Links
Trump picks reality TV star Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation. Whizz grows ARR by $1M in one month. Coupang stock slides despite impressive ecommerce / delivery growth in Korea. BeeFast raises $450K for instant delivery software. Uber adds new airport travel features. Instacart partners with Molina Healthcare of Michigan, releases new study on food access. Are broken espresso machines the new McFlurry scandal? Amazon keeps fulfillment fees flat in 2025. Trump may snip SNAP. Can short line railroads operate like Uber? Shipt unveils holiday deals. Deliveroo partners with HURR. Pony AI ups IPO haul. VW snags Rivian exec. PayPal resurrects money pooling feature. Stater Bros turns to FlyBuy for delivery optimization. Buttigieg celebrates third anniversary of ILJA, RIP. CDMX’s female couriers work to make the job safer. Just in time for Thanksgiving - Yelp maps cities with cloggiest toilets.
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— Brought to you by the Curbivore Crew.