The Better Burger - America Shacks Up
Fast Company|July/August 2015
How Shake Shack has customers (and many investors) salivating for its burgers and unique brand of hospitality.
Rob Brunner, photographs by Grant Cornett
The Better Burger - America Shacks Up

Shake Shack leader Randy Garutti tells a roomful of employees. “I want to challenge you to put us out of business.”

It’s less than 30 minutes before the 11 a.m. grand opening of what will be the 66th Shake Shack a gleaming, multimillion-dollar outpost located in a Victorian brownstone on Newbury Street, in Boston’s gold coast shopping district. The assembled workers sit riveted, but this last-minute dare is probably not what they were expecting.

Garutti, the company’s CEO, has been up since 3 a.m. He came to Boston on a late-arriving early morning Amtrak train, and he plans to hit three other Boston-area Shacks before heading home to New York. It has already been a long day. Is he having some kind of stress-induced, Howard Beale– style meltdown? Well, no. He’s just passing along a bit of the wisdom that has made his company one of the hottest restaurant businesses in the country.

Shake Shack has been inspiring excitement since it opened in New York’s Madison Square Park 11 years ago. Created by revered New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, it has since grown from a humble burger stand into a global chain with 41 U.S. outlets and 27 overseas franchises in cities such as Moscow, Dubai, Istanbul, and London. Fans line up for its signature Shack Burgers (flavor-packed beef patties served on squishy Martin’s potato rolls and wrapped in nostalgia triggering wax paper), hot dogs (Chicago-style or with beer-marinated shallots and cheese sauce), concretes (frozen custard blended with artisanal local ingredients; each Shack has its own unique creations), and house beer (ShackMeister ale, made by Brooklyn Brewery). The company went public in January, raising $112 million in an IPO that valued it at around $1.6 billion. At the time Shake Shack announced its impressive first quarter earnings in May, its stock price had more than tripled.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July/August 2015 من Fast Company.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July/August 2015 من Fast Company.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من FAST COMPANY مشاهدة الكل
THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
Fast Company

THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.

time-read
5 mins  |
Fall 2024
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
Fast Company

INTELLIGENT IMPACT

BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.

time-read
1 min  |
Fall 2024
REDDIT'S REVENGE
Fast Company

REDDIT'S REVENGE

IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
Fast Company

SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE

In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
Fast Company

10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
Fast Company

The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar

How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.

time-read
8 mins  |
Fall 2024
Gabriella Khalil
Fast Company

Gabriella Khalil

Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.

time-read
2 mins  |
Fall 2024
The Fast and the Furious
Fast Company

The Fast and the Furious

High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.

time-read
6 mins  |
Fall 2024
Lost in Truncation
Fast Company

Lost in Truncation

Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2024
Campus Radicals
Fast Company

Campus Radicals

Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024