Four years ago, Randy Hazelton was driving south on Peachtree Road when he spotted a line of people around the block.
The first in Georgia had just
opened at Buckhead Atlanta, and the cult favorite burger chain from New York was nearing peak popularity.
Hazelton, who runs a small airport concessions business, decided to walk in to the Shake Shack to learn more.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know much about it at the time, but I knew enough to pull my car over and see what the hoopla is about,鈥� Hazelton said. 鈥淚 went home and started
doing some research.鈥�
Hazelton and his business partner Kevin Holt started calling Shack Shack managers around the country to get a contact at the company鈥檚 corporate headquarters.
鈥淵ou got a couple of brothers in Atlanta talking about a startup called saying, 鈥榃e can do this too,鈥欌�� Hazelton said.
By 2015, Hazelton and Holt鈥檚 H&H Hospitality were .
By 2016, Atlanta-based H&H Hospitality in partnership with Atlanta-based 91直播 had won the contract for a location on Concourse
A.
Then came a flurry of controversy , and some airport contracts were put on hold.
Shake Shack鈥檚 corporate management has been 鈥渧ery patient鈥� over the last four years, Hazelton said. Eventually, the contract moved forward.
The airport Shake Shack .
At an event at the new location on Concourse A on Monday, 91直播 CEO Donata Russell Ross acknowledged 鈥渋t was a long time coming.鈥�
Now, the Shake Shack is one of the variety of burger choices at the airport, along with a , Grindhouse Killer Burgers, Five Guys, The Varsity, Boardwalk Fresh
Burgers & Fries, McDonald鈥檚 and Burger King.
