Shake Shack has arrived in Moscow, Russia 20 years following McDonald's entrance into the company Bloomberg Businessweek reported Wednesday.
"If we were opening a fast-food chain, we would be too late for Russia," Danny Meyer, CEO at Union Square Hospitality Group told Bloomberg Businessweek. "It's very inexpensive, given we ship our hamburger buns from the U.S. by airplane and, of course, all of our beef comes from Australia and our pickles are from Brooklyn."
The new location is set to open Thursday, and will offer ShackBurgers for 235 rubles or $7.15. The price amounts to over 50 percent in New York, three times how much a McDonald's big mac costs.
The burger chain is also offering deep-fried shallots, which are put in beer batter, and have walnuts, marshmallows, pork sausage and bacon, that come from within the country.
Shake Shack joins Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, and Yum! Brands Inc., in the country where there is a single restaurant for 930 people compared to one person and 150 restaurants in the United States according to information from Business Analytica.
Analysts predict the restaurant industry will grow five percent in 2013 to $20.1 billion. This amounts to $140 in in yearly income compared to over $1,000 in the western part of Europe. More than $1,500 is expected in the United States according to information from the Euromonitor International Research Company Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
Russia is Shake Shack's fourth country city, compared to other such as Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and most recently Dubai a week ago.
Thursday's opening will be Shake Shack's final one in another country so the business can spread further to the western part of the United States.
The burger chain anticipates opening in 2014 in Chicago, and Austin, Texas. Another location is expected on the Las Vegas, Nev. Strip in 2015.
