History Shake Shack

the original shake shack located in madison square park

in 2000, new york city began rebuilding of madison square park, had fallen state of disrepair , misuse. part of redevelopment, restaurateur danny meyer helped spearhead creation of madison square park conservancy redevelop it. 1 of first things conservancy did in goal improve park host art exhibit called <3 taxi inside of park raise awareness of renewal effort. meyer s director of operations, randy garutti, established hot dog cart run out of kitchen of eleven madison, 1 of meyer s union square hospitality group (ushg) operations. on time cart became extremely successful, , remained in operation 3 years.

in 2004, city began taking bids operate new kiosk-style restaurant within park; meyer outlined idea space, , opened first shake shack in july 2004. beginning restaurant not designed chain; intended single shop location designed new york city. however, original location s sales continued grow, group realized there market expansion.

since opening, shake shack has grown largest part of ushg s portfolio. average store revenue of us$4 million more twice of mcdonald s average store revenue within united states. popularity such in summer @ original location, wait in line service can stretch on hour, on weekends when weather pleasant. webcam on restaurant s web page shows current line in real time.

in june 2010, shake shack opened first restaurant outside of new york city @ lincoln road mall in miami beach s south beach neighborhood. in april 2017 location completed month-long renovation added 586 square feet of space, bringing seating capacity 106.

on july 12, 2010, shake shack restaurants opened in theater district , upper east side. upper east side location s opening significant because lifted east 86th street, urban shopping district had fallen on hard times; location had been vacant, , when occupied described neighbor never there...dingy , dilapidated...almost eyesore.

in july 2011 announced shake shack had reached deal mta open location in lower level of grand central terminal. project delayed because tenant occupying space shake shack take over, mexican eatery zócalo, refused vacate after expiration of lease , filed suit, arguing bidding process (for retail space in grand central) corrupted. suit dismissed , zócalo appealed. in october 2012 zócalo filed chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. in may 2013, zócalo vacated space, , new outlet opened business on october 5, 2013.

shake shack opened first airport location in may 2013 in jfk s newly expanded terminal 4.

by august 2014, shake shack outlets had begun operating in california, connecticut, delaware, washington, dc, florida, georgia, chicago, maryland, massachusetts, new jersey, nevada, pennsylvania , texas. month, reports surfaced company preparing go public ipo , discussing underwriting number of investment banks, including j.p. morgan, morgan stanley , goldman sachs.

on january 29, 2015, shake shack priced ipo @ $21 per share. on morning of january 30, 2015, began trading on nyse @ $47 per share under ticker symbol shak. in april 2015, shares hit prices of $72, , hit high of $90 in may 2015. in ipo filing, company stated planned expand domestic footprint 450 company-operated stores. while no end date given expansion, company indicated intention open @ least 10 restaurants each fiscal year, though later amended target 12 year , again later in 2016 14 stores year, goal result in total of 450 stores in approximately 25 years. later may, shake shack filed trademark term chicken shack leading speculation company serve chicken sandwiches. company temporarily introduced chicken sandwiches brooklyn on july 7, 2015. in january 2016, shake shack introduced chicken sandwiches across locations in united states, having started serving them @ brooklyn shake shack locations.

on august 31, 2016, shake shack announced begin room service @ chicago athletic association hotel, first hotel in america offer in-room shake shack.

in november 2016 first houston, texas, location opened inside galleria; march 2017 opened inside minute maid park in downtown houston. mid-december delaware opened first in new castle. in february 2017, first michigan location opened in downtown detroit. second michigan location in troy opened on october 25, 2017. on may 10, 2017, shake shack opened first kentucky location, located @ summit @ fritz farm in lexington. june, company announced location open in charlotte, north carolina, in late 2017, becoming first shake shack in carolinas. california s 5 locations in l.a. county, until 6th had opened in san diego in 20 october 2017 @ westfield utc. second san diego location expected open in mission valley in late 2017, along south bay location in el segundo in october.

international

shake shack has outlets in number of international cities including seoul, tokyo, london, cardiff, istanbul, moscow, muscat, beirut, dubai, abu dhabi, doha, kuwait city, riyadh, manama, tehran , jeddah.