Challenge

Veg’D is a plant-based restaurant concept crafted by Matthew Kenney, an American celebrity chef, entrepreneur, author, and educator specializing in plant-based cuisine. His recent restaurant endeavor includes Veg’D, and Matthews™ was presented with the opportunity to represent and guide the tenant through the process of finding the flagship store location.

Strategy

As a brand that is passionate about healthy living, Veg’D needed to find a space that was located in a neighborhood that shared the same core values, and in a center with a complementing tenant mix. The client also wanted to find a drive-thru location catering to the new generation of on-demand needs. By utilizing Matthews™ proprietary click-to-sale technology, the Matthews™ representatives were able to find a drive-thru opportunity that was coming to the market soon by Festival Companies. As a result, Veg’D was able to secure the space early, before the property officially was announced on-market. Matthews™ did face one challenge on this deal, which was getting a personal guaranty or higher security deposit. However, through utilizing Matthews™ expertise, the tenant agreed to give a higher security deposit to finalize the deal.

Results

Located in Costa Mesa on Harbor Boulevard in the Bristol Village shopping center, Veg’D secured their first location. They not only received free rent as a concession and tenant improvements as part of the lease agreement, but secured a site promptly considering the intense demand for drive-thrus at the time. All in all, both parties were pleased with the timeliness and smoothness of the deal. Veg’D was also announced as Orange County’s first plant-based drive-thru restaurant.