New York-based trendy burger chain Shake Shack is sizzling.
In mid-February, the 63-unit operation was trading at more than double its initial public offering (IPO) of $21 per share, which closed on Feb. 4.
For DIYers who love customized delights, Shake Shack is another win. Founded in 2001 by acclaimed New York foodie entrepreneur Danny Meyer, Shake Shack opened as a hot-dog cart and rapidly advanced into the “better burger” segment, which mushroomed into a $2.4 billion industry in 2013.
While that’s just a small piece of the $72 billion total U.S. burger patty, analysts love its potential, and Shake Shack believes it can reach at least 450 stores.
Looking for a job? Well done.
After several years of bad news on the job fronts, there’s some hearty news: The government’s January report shows that American businesses, from c-stores and other retail to factories and plants, created 257,000 new jobs in December, exceeding economists’ expectations.
Overall, the country created 3.1 million new jobs, making it the best year for job growth since 1999. And in an oxymoron, the unemployment rate actually inched up to 5.7% because more people are looking for jobs.
Many of the jobs, according to multiple reports, came from retail, construction and health care—perhaps boosted by more people getting insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Could Arab oil dominance be nearing an end?
A report by CNN suggests Middle Eastern oil cartel OPEC’s dominance in the global oil market is in jeopardy.
“The end of OPEC” might be closer to reality now, says Edward Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup. The shale revolution, he wrote in a recent report, “has created a sort of existential threat to Saudi Arabia and OPEC.”
It may be hard to believe, but the United States is now the largest producer of oil globally, forcing OPEC to be less dependent on American motorists. OPEC is led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. As for Morse, he correctly predicted that oil prices were in bubble territory back in 2008, when crude surged to nearly $150 a barrel and Goldman Sachs was predicting a “superspike” to $200. Morse is now calling for oil to sink to as low as $20 a barrel this year.
A February NACS survey has 54% of consumers feeling upbeat about the economy.
However, nearly six in 10 feel gas prices are likely to climb back up after falling below $2 a gallon in most areas of the country.
The extended stretch of declining gas prices may have changed consumers’ perceptions about what they consider to be “high prices,” the NACS survey suggests. Consumers now say $3.50 a gallon would represent a threshold at which they would consider cutting back on how much they drive. Gas prices last averaged $3.50 a gallon in August 2014.
RadioShack Almost Off Air
Electronics chain RadioShack Corp. fıled last month for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it could sell up to 60% of its 4,000 remaining stores.
The financially ailing 95-year-old operator fıled for Chapter 11 after striking a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its stores to wireless service provider Sprint and hedge fund Standard General.
The news was not surprising, considering RadioShack has failed to generate a profıt since 2011.
“The surprise is that they survived this long,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “I didn’t think they’d last through Christmas 2013.”
Wawa Makeover
Wawa Inc., one of the c-store channel’s most celebrated chains, recently said it will launch a massive remodeling of legacy stores. It will renovate 40 locations in 2015, introducing:
- Diesel pumps at fuel stores
- New hand-spun milkshakes
- Coca-Cola Freestyle machines
- New store graphics and designs
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