Snaking queue for China's first Shake Shack in Shanghai

Record ID: 1393247

  • Title: Snaking queue for China's first Shake Shack in Shanghai
  • Date: 30th January 2019
  • Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (JANUARY 30, 2019) (REUTERS) TIMELAPSE OF CUSTOMERS QUEUING AROUND ALLEYWAY FOR SHAKE SHACK EXTERIOR OF SHAKE SHACK PEOPLE QUEUING AND SIGN READING (English and Chinese): "PLEASE QUEUE UP HERE" SIGN READING (English and Chinese): "ABOUT 60 MINS LEFT TO ENJOY YOUR BURGERS!" PEOPLE LOOKING AT MENUS IN THE QUEUE 31-YEAR-OLD SHANGHAI RESIDENT, XU YING, LOOKING AT MENU MENU (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 31-YEAR-OLD SHANGHAI RESIDENT, XU YING, SAYING: "When I first arrived, I saw the line was extremely long and I nearly freaked out. I read online that we need to start queuing at 9:30 AM but I couldn't believe it. But the line is pretty fast. I still haven't seen any scalpers here. If there were scalpers selling burgers, I would probably still buy one and give it a try, since my colleagues say they taste great." VARIOUS OF MAN TAKING PHOTO OF QUEUE WITH SMARTPHONE VARIOUS OF SHAKE SHACK GREATER CHINA BRAND MANAGER, WILLIAM LOU, CHATTING WITH CUSTOMERS CUSTOMERS EATING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SHAKE SHACK GREATER CHINA BRAND MANAGER, WILLIAM LOU SAYING: "There are such customers (scalpers). But we hope to provide customers with a very nice experience. So, we've taken some steps to make the entire process a bit smoother." REPORTER: "Like what kind of steps?" LOU: "Including the fact that customers are limited to buying only three burgers per person, and for those in the queue, we have designed games for them to play and provided food samples for them to try, in order to make their queuing experience better." CUSTOMERS ENTERING SHAKE SHACK CUSTOMERS QUEUING AT REGISTER EMPLOYEE DIRECTING CUSTOMER AFTER PAYMENT POINT-OF-VIEW FROM CUSTOMER, LAI JUNYANG, TAKING TRAY OF BURGERS AND WALKING LAI CARRYING TRAY OF BURGERS AND TAKING SEAT VARIOUS OF LAI AND FRIENDS EATING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CUSTOMER, LAI JUNYANG, SAYING: "Personally, I think this hamburger is juicier than other traditional hamburger fast food joints, like McDonald's. But the price is a bit more expensive. If I had a choice, I would probably still choose this place since the food here is, after all, more delicious to me." CUSTOMERS EATING IN COURTYARD 41-YEAR-OLD CUSTOMER FROM NEW YORK, MIKE MARAGHY, EATING AT TABLE WITH WOMEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) 41-YEAR-OLD CUSTOMER FROM NEW YORK, MIKE MARAGHY, SAYING: "The queue wasn't actually that bad. It was quite long, it kept uh... I got here and then it said 'oh, you have to go around the corner, and around the corner, and around the corner' and then it said, 'oh, from here it's one hour'. But it actually moved rather fast, so it wasn't too bad. It wasn't too long of a wait." CUSTOMERS EATING
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2019 10:30
  • Keywords: Shake Shack China queue fries Shanghai fast food line customers burger
  • Location: SHANGHAI, CHINA
  • City: SHANGHAI, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA0019ZC0VO9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Snaking queues of customers lined up around the block, for a bite of Shake Shack's burger at its first China outlet in Shanghai on Wednesday (January 30), nearly a week after its opening day.
    Since opening its doors last Thursday (January 24), word about the American chain's burgers has spread across social media, as has news about its long queue of customers. There were also rumours about scalpers who wait-in-line to sell burgers for up to 200 yuan ($29.78) each, although none could be seen on Wednesday among the some 150 customers who had to queue for at least an hour.
    Shake Shack's brand manager for the Greater China region, William Lou acknowledged that there were indeed scalpers amongst the queue, but customers are limited to only purchasing three hamburgers each.
    Customers such as Lai Junyang said they did not really mind the queue.
    "If I had a choice, I would probably still choose this place since the food here is, after all, more delicious," said Lai.
    The New York-listed company said that it hopes to open 24 more stores in mainland China over the next ten years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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