Yesterday's biggest news was the announcement that, finally, Shake Shack is coming to the Philippines. The burger chain will open in Manila next year with an undisclosed date and location. Information is shaky at best, but we asked the man who made it all happen, SSI's Anton Huang, all the pertinent details that can sate our curiosity, excitement, and, hopefully, appetite.
That Shake Shack is opening in Manila has been a never-ending rumor for years. How did this finally happen and why? Why Shake Shack compared to other similar brands?
SSI’s mission has been to bring the best of the world to the Filipino consumer. This is what we’ve done over the past 30 years and this continues to be a primary driver of our business today.
Shake Shack leads with a culture of hospitality—it’s their heart and soul. Guest experience is a priority, how guests are treated at every level—from email and social media to face-to-face interactions with a warm yet professional conduct. Responses are personalized, no one leaves feeling as though dealt by a sales agent, but by a real person who’s generally interested in what they have to say.
SSI and Shake Shack both have a very strong culture of customer service and hospitality and our values are closely aligned in that sense. In addition, with the success of Shake Shack in the United States, its recent success in Asian markets, and its worldwide cult following, a partnership with Shake Shack was definitely down our alley.
Shake Shack’s fine dining heritage and fun and lively environment coupled with our local culture that boasts of a vibrant consumer scene is the perfect combination to bring this gastronomic experience catering to the eclectic tastes of our Filipino consumers.
How will Shake Shack be marketed in Manila?
Staying true to Shake Shack’s mission to Stand For Something Good® and inculcating their inherent culture of hospitality, we, at the SSI Group, are committed to provide only the best in customer service and guest experience.
The Group’s food business will be targeted at the same market as that of our specialty store business, allowing us to utilize our expertise in identifying concepts that resonate with this market and leverage on the experience we have acquired in operating SaladStop!, TWG Tea, Good Eats, and our central kitchen.
Shake Shack’s fine dining heritage and fun and lively environment coupled with our local culture that boasts of a vibrant consumer scene is the perfect combination to bring this gastronomic experience catering to the eclectic tastes of our Filipino consumers.
As it has been a mission of the SSI Group to provide complete lifestyle offerings through valued global partnerships, we will continue to deliver Shake Shack’s trademark hospitality and brand of customer service in all its Philippine stores.
SSI is primarily known for fashion and style. You have TWG as well, but how difficult is it to finalize a deal with a restaurant as iconic as Shake Shack?
As a trendsetter and trailblazer in the region, the SSI Group’s retail prowess and market expertise coupled with its warm culture of hospitality make it the ideal partner for Shake Shack’s launch in the city of Manila.
With over 100 brands, we continue to cultivate a unique portfolio of brands that is diversified across a range of categories, and that includes some of the world’s most coveted brands. Given the success of SaladStop!, our food expansions are intended to complement our core retailing business while at the same time utilizing our expertise in identifying concepts that resonate with this market.
The partnership between Shake Shack Inc. and the SSI Group is also a testament of our company’s vision of enhancing lives and providing only the best for the ever-evolving Filipino consumer. Celebrating our 30th anniversary this year makes the partnership with this well-loved global brand even more meaningful to us.
