Burger chain Shake Shack has filed to go public, offering shares in the company to the general public. Here’s what you need to know:
1. The IPO Offering Is for $100 Million in Shares
Customers pick up their orders from Shake Shack on August 18, 2014 in Madison Square Park in New York City. (Getty)
The stock will be listed in the New York Stock Exchange using the symbol “SHAK.” The company said in an SEC application filed Dec. 29 that total sales had more than quadrupled over the past three years, to $82.5 million in 2013, from $57 million in 2012 and $19 million in 2010.
The company reported that net income grew from $0.2 million in 2010 to $5.4 million in 2013.
According to the SEC application, underwriters of the offering will be J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs & Co, Jefferies, William Blair and Stifel.
2. The Chain Began With a Manhattan Hot Dog Cart
According tot he restaurant chain’s website, Shake Shack began as a Manhattan hot dog cart. (Getty)
According to the organization’s website, the first Shake Shack was a Madison Square Park hot dog stand, created by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) “to support the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s first art installation.”
3. There Are 63 Shake Shack Locations
A graph showing the growth of the Shake Shack franchise. (SEC Filing)
According to the official SEC public offering, there are 63 Shake Shack locations, of which 31 are domestic company-operated restaurants, five are domestic licensed locations and 27 are international licensed locations.
“We open Shacks in areas where communities gather, often with high foot traffic and substantial commercial density such as New York City’s Theater District, London’s Covent Garden and Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates,” the SEC filing says. “We have been able to successfully grow across a variety of locations due to our versatile Shack formats and designs that are tailored to reflect each Shack community’s core attributes.”
The chain grew from seven Shacks in two states in 2010 to 40 Shacks across six states, Washington, D.C. and eight other countries by 2013.
4. Shake Shack’s Owners Are Experienced Restaurateurs
People wait in line at Shake Shack on August 18, 2014 in Madison Square Park in New York City. (Getty)
The Union Square Hospitality Group, which launched Shake Shack’s first stand in 2009, is run by Danny Meyer, who, at age 27, launched New York’s Union Square Cafe in 1985 and, nine years later, Gramercy Tavern.
In 2007, New York Times Restaurant reviewer Frank Bruni wrote that Gramercy Tavern was one of the most beloved restaurants in the city.
“For nearly 13 years it has held a place in the hearts of New Yorkers and visitors to Manhattan that’s arguably unrivaled,” Bruni wrote. “And it has proven that at the end of the day, both literally and figuratively, what most diners want isn’t nerve-jangling sensation or cutting-edge surprise. It’s a kind of unstrained graciousness and unlabored sophistication that Gramercy Tavern has pretty much defined.”
When Meyer opened two more restaurants in 1998, Eleven Madison Park and Tabla, he also officially formed Union Square Hospitality Group.
5. Obama and Biden Are fans
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Vice President Joseph Biden (R) meet with local workers, including Meredith Upchurch (C), at the Dupont Circle location of restaurant chain Shake Shack May 16 in Washington, D.C. (Getty)
In May, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden went to a Shake Shack in Washington D.C. to emphasize how important it is to build the nation’s infrastructure, and enjoy a few burgers.
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At the time, as Politico reported, Obama said they picked Shake Shack because it has “great burgers and pays its employees more than 10 bucks an hour.”