Angel Losada, owner of Grupo Gigante, was held hostage for 102 days. During that time, he reflected on the commercials for his self-service stores, read ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ and the Bible, and even watched World Cup 1994 matches, but he never imagined that he would unleash madness by opening a hamburger restaurant.
Although Grupo Gigante began operations in 1962 with the opening of its first store in Mixcoac and competed ‘cart to cart’ with Comercial Mexicana, now called La Comer, and with Walmart Mexico, its business diversified and now has about 12 brands in its portfolio such as Toks restaurants, Taquerías El Farolito, Radio Shack stores, and even franchises of PetCo or Casaideas, which recently arrived in Mexico.
However, the business that caused huge lines of people who camped out from the night before its opening is Shake Shack, the famous hamburger chain from New York.
How was the negotiation to bring Shake Shack to Mexico? Angel Losada revealed details of the talks he had with Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack and what he did to bring the franchise to the country.
How did Shake Shack come to Mexico?
Angel Losada and Grupo Gigante already enjoyed success in several of their businesses, but that did not take away their ‘hunger’ to grow and continue with diversification. After obtaining good results with the opening of PetCo in Mexico, Angel Losada and executives of the Group met with personnel from Leonard Green & Partners, an American private equity investment firm.
First they analyzed the possibility of bringing the Sports Authority chain of stores; however, “they invited us to a meeting in Pebble Beach to explain the success of PetCo in the Mexican market.”
Losada and his team traveled and explained their strategy of “know how, know who and know where” and that was when they learned of a meeting with the founder of Shake Shack.
“Danny Meyer is coming tonight, don’t worry. Randy Garutti, who is the CEO, is going to be here. What’s more, we are going to give them lunch and dinner from Shake Shack,” said the owner of Gigante in an interview with the Cracks Podcast, by Oso Trava.
Once they had already had lunch with the Shake Shack executives, Angel Losada introduced himself. “I told him we are so-and-so from Grupo Gigante, we have restaurants, we have experience and good locations, I think we could make a good match”; however, the first response that the founder of Shake Shack received was not the one he wanted.
Before Grupo Gigante, some 25 Mexican businessmen had sought to bring the Shake Shack franchise to Mexico.
“He told me ‘yes, yes, yes, you might be the good one. ‘Hold on and we’ll see.’ I said ‘I’m going to hold on’ and we finally made the deal with them, the master franchise for Mexico,” he said.
Shake Shack’s opening in Mexico City broke a record
—I understand that when they opened the first Shake Shack in Mexico it was a global record, asked Oso Trava.
—Yes, it was impressive. The truth is that it was at the level of the best in the world, answered the president of Grupo Gigante.
In June 2019, the line to buy a Shake Shack hamburger was at least two hours long. Mexican diners lined up the night before to be among the first to try them.
“The first were two brothers who slept outside the place since 8 pm on Wednesday,” said Rodrigo Losada, director of operations for the company, who pointed out that Shake Shack is usually a place with lines. “That’s how the brand works in other countries, in the United States they almost always have lines, it’s normal.”
The interest in tasting those hamburgers caused Burger King employees to go to the line, armed with cups of soda and promotions; however, “it didn’t affect us. “Since we had a line, we were prepared to go out with drinks and umbrellas for the sun,” explained Ileana Rojas, head of marketing for Shake Shack Mexico.
What is the history of Shake Shack? From hot dog cart to global icon
It all began in 2001 with a hot dog cart installed in Madison Square Park, Manhattan, with the aim of supporting the first art installation of the Madison Square Park Conservancy.
What began as a temporary proposal to promote local art soon became a culinary phenomenon, with daily lines of enthusiasts who came for three consecutive summers, says the chain’s website.
The success led to the opening of a permanent kiosk in the park in 2004. With a menu that included hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, beer and wine, Shake Shack quickly became an iconic meeting point.
Its food offerings, combined with a welcoming and stately atmosphere, attracted not only neighborhood residents, but also visitors from around the city, country and world.
Source: elfinanciero
