Shake Shack
The Madison Square Park hot dog cart that became a global burger chain, about 600 stores against McDonald’s forty thousand.
12 figures on Shake Shack, drawn from 6 Modern MBA case studies.
The figures
US dollars6
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Average annual revenue per store, in millions | $3.7M | 2nd of 8 · top $3.9M | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Average sales per store by chain, 2024, in millions | $3.67M | 2nd of 6 · top $3.88M | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Average annual payment in rent and royalties per franchisee, 2024 | $180,188 | 2nd of 6 · top $373,737 | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Average order size by chain and concept | $20 | 4th of 9 · top $30 | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Average price for a double cheeseburger and fries across Los Angeles | $17.98 | 2nd of 9 · top $20.58 | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Average check size against leading restaurant chains | $16.00 | 5th of 10 · top $26.50 | How much a taco truck actually makes |
Percentages4
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and labor as a share of sales · Food costs | 30% | 2nd of 6 · top 35% | Why diners never go out of business |
| Food and labor as a share of sales · Labor costs | 30% | 5th of 6 · top 39% | Why diners never go out of business |
| Average store-level operating margin by chain and concept | 21% | 3rd of 9 · top 25% | Why fast food can't make a good burger |
| Store-level operating margin by restaurant chain in 2022 | 17% | 3rd of 13 · top 24% | Why Taco Bell got so expensive |
Durations1
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Months a restaurant must be open before it counts as comparable | 24 mo | 1st of 11 · top 24 mo | Why the Popeyes chicken sandwich was so good |
Measures1
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Average size of a domestic store, in square feet | 3,250 | 2nd of 7 · top 4,000 | How Papa John’s buried Papa John |
Case studies covering Shake Shack
Case study — Food & beverageHow Papa John’s buried Papa JohnSix regimes in thirty years, four of them engineered by the founder. The filings contradict his version.13 min read
Case study — Food & beverageWhy fast food can't make a good burgerMcDonald's makes more from rent than from food. That is why it can't fix the burger — and why four LA independents can.13 min read
Case study — Food & beverageWhy Taco Bell got so expensiveThe most profitable chain in fast food is being squeezed hardest, and the reason is KFC and Pizza Hut.11 min read
Case study — Food & beverageWhy the Popeyes chicken sandwich was so goodThe sandwich came from a decade of R&D discipline its new owners inherited and did not build. That is the problem.14 min read
Case study — Food & beverageWhy diners never go out of businessThree chains, three opposite strategies, and identical 13% store margins. Diners survive everything and grow at nothing.14 min read
Case study — Food & beverageHow much a taco truck actually makesTwo sisters run fifteen unbranded taco stands in LA grossing $7.58M a year. Almost nobody knows the business exists.11 min read