Shuckin’ Shack serves all sorts of seafood, but oysters are the star.
When Hunter Yung first visited Shuckin’ Shack, an oyster and seafood franchise, he didn’t think the location was a chain, much less a franchise.
“I had found out that it was a franchise, and I couldn’t believe it, because it felt more like a family-owned type, hometown bar type feel,” said Young, who’s signed on to open three units in the St. Louis area.
That feeling is intentional, Chief Operating Officer Matt Piccinin said.
“We allow the stores to kind of let the units take on a life of their own, in a sense,” Piccinin said. “No store is the same size. No store is laid out the same, no store looks the same, other than the menu. … We don’t run LTOs, we give people chalkboard specials and they can run when they want, you can have the freedom to put what beer and alcohol and whatever you want on your list.”
CEO Jonathan Weathington said the brand has been successful so far in its 19 units in achieving that local vibe, with no two alike.
“We’ve kind of made our mark in making every location feel like its own little microcosm,” Weathington said.
Jonathan Weathington is CEO of Shuckin’ Shack.
The St. Louis area isn’t exactly an oyster hub—or at least not yet, according to Weathington. But the franchise is aiming to expand inland. There aren’t any major competitors around the central U.S. market, making it a great spot to develop new restaurants, he said. There are chains like Red Lobster, but the two don’t even see the brand as competition.
“We’re fortunate to quote-unquote compete in a space that doesn’t have a lot of competition,” Weathington said.
Shuckin’ Shack already has an Illinois location. As the brand shifts from the East Coast inward, Shuckin’ Shack’s positioning hasn’t changed. It’s all about the communicating that local, mom-and-pop shop vibe. “It’s the same thing we do on the coasts, it’s not actually all that complicated,” Weathington said. “It’s just making sure that story is being told to the consumer.”
As for supplying the oysters, “The supply chain is not nearly as difficult as you might think it would be,” Weathington said. All the seafood is wild-caught and domestically sourced.
Hunter Yung will open three Shuckin’ Shack units in the St. Louis area.
An ideal franchisee is someone who can talk to people. While a lot of quick-service restaurants are building smaller stores as a way to speed up the experience for diners, Shuckin’ Shack is doing the same thing to make the space feel more personal, Weathington said.
“If we want to create intimate environments, then we need to have great interaction, we need to give people a reason to stick around,” Weathington said. “So, when we’re looking for franchisees, we want franchise owners that can walk up to a table and actually talk to the table. Not ‘Hey, how’s everything going,’ like an actual conversation with a table.”
The investment required to open a Shuckin’ Shack location ranges from $453,000 to $1.1 million. Of the 13 franchised stores open in 2021, Shuckin’ Shack’s net sales ranged from $268,477 to $2.6 million.
Yung’s first store isn’t slated to open until next year, but he expects the store to bring in a lot of traffic. “It’s an area that’s been kind of underserved when it comes to that kind of food,” he said.
He hasn’t run into any major challenges yet, but he anticipates the hardest part will be finding the right staff to work at the restaurants. “To have a successful restaurant, you have to have good staff. That’s everything,” Yung said. “So, we’re going to work very hard to make sure we do the hiring correctly.”