---
title: "Restaurant Dive: How a Second Drive-Thru Lane Boosted Sales For an A&W Franchisee"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/175958a1-fcf0-4dc7-aa7b-ca3ef2bd2310
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/restaurant-dive-how-a-second-drive-thru-lane-boosted-sales-for-an-aw-franchisee-2720757
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["Operations"]
published: 2023-01-05T18:13:12.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:09:19.090Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/964bc764ad1ede1d9154d94a3ee7ce926096.jpg
---

# Restaurant Dive: How a Second Drive-Thru Lane Boosted Sales For an A&W Franchisee

**TL;DR:** A&W franchisee Anthony Walker added a second drive-thru lane to his Baldwin, Wisconsin location, resulting in a 40% increase in drive-thru sales compared to 2019. The addition of the second lane was an $80,000 project that has contributed to 60-65% of the location's sales coming from the drive-thru.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2023-01-05. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/restaurant-dive-how-a-second-drive-thru-lane-boosted-sales-for-an-aw-franchisee-2720757).*

## Story

As a third-generation franchisee with A&W Restaurants, Anthony Walker has watched the brand transform from a drive-in to a drive-thru with a dining area. A&W has always had a large amount of business in the dining room, but the pandemic brought an emphasis on the drive-thru experience. To best serve his customers at his Baldwin, Wisconsin location Walker added a second drive-thru lane in 2020.

“Drive-thru sales have been through the roof,” Walker said. “We don’t ever see them coming down. Drive-thru is going to be a big, big piece of our business going forward, probably forever.”

Adding the drive-thru was an $80,000 project that took months of planning and research to ensure a great ROI. Drive-thru sales at Walker’s location are up 40% compared to 2019. Even though drive-thru sales have decreased some since dining rooms have opened back up, 60-65% of the Baldwin A&W sales stem from the drive-thru.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- franchise expansion (topic)
- qsr growth (topic)
- A&W Restaurants (company)
- small business support (topic)
- drive-thru sales (topic)
- Baldwin, Wisconsin (location)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/restaurant-dive-how-a-second-drive-thru-lane-boosted-sales-for-an-aw-franchisee-2720757). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/175958a1-fcf0-4dc7-aa7b-ca3ef2bd2310).