Shake?s Shuffles Franchise Focus

While Springdale recently lost its Shake’s Frozen Custard location, there could be more on the way.
The Shake’s at 1503 S. Thompson, near the intersection of Arkansas Highways 412 and 71 business, closed Dec. 2. Ryan Osborne, director of marketing, said the store was a franchise location and that the franchisee decided to close for personal reasons.
However, Osborne said Shake’s is looking to further develop the Rogers and Springdale markets, but no specific locations have been selected.
Those new stores will not be franchise locations, though.
“We have plans to make Northwest Arkansas all corporate stores,” Osborne said.
Switching to corporate-owned stores offers a couple of advantages, such as complete control of operations. Plus, corporate locations generate more revenue for the company. The company receives 100 percent of revenues versus 5 percent from franchises.
Of the 38 Shake’s locations in eight states, only four are corporate stores: Fayetteville, Joplin, Mo., Dallas and Longview, Texas.
Shake’s is based in Fayetteville but was founded in Joplin in 1991. The Shake’s on North College Avenue in Fayetteville had sales of about $6.8 million in 2005, according to the City of Fayetteville’s hotel-motel-restaurant tax collections.