Shake Shack Opens 2 Istanbul Stores as Mall Dining Shifts on the Road to 2027

The ShackBurger, Chicken Shack, Chicken Bites, fries, lemonade, ice cream and milkshakes form the core of the menu. Seasonal items are added on top. Prices and opening offers are not in the report.

The report calls the store “MRF Cadde”. A different street name appears in other sources, and it has not been confirmed whether the two refer to the same place. We use the report’s name.

No, the report gives neither the total number of stores in Türkiye nor the local operator. Floor area, seating capacity and staff numbers were not disclosed either.

In Q2 2026, 11 licensed restaurants opened and 3 closed, a net gain of 8. Closures are reported alongside openings. Growth in the licensed network moves through both.

The company aims to open 40 to 45 new licensed restaurants in 2026. The letter, however, does not break down openings by country.

A global brand grows on a local partner’s capital and street knowledge. The model raises a question similar to Coffy’s conversion model, which invites independent cafés under its sign.

Visitor numbers are at the same level as a year earlier. So the number of people coming to the mall is not rising; where they spend is changing. Here is the surprise: it is not the crowd that grows, it is the time spent at the table.

The same report expects the first half of 2027 to be harder, with recovery in the second half. Textiles and fashion are named as the most affected areas. Occupancy at successful malls sits in the 95-100% band, and new large-scale mall investment is limited.

When occupancy is high and new malls are few, a good food and beverage unit gains value. Mall managers may give experience brands more room in the tenant mix. That is a forecast, not a certainty, but the data point the same way.

Let’s say you run a burger place a few streets from the new Kurtköy store. It is early evening, your tables are half full, order slips pile up by the till, and everyone walking past carries another brand’s bag. Your customers have not forgotten you; they just see the other name first on their phones. In the first weeks curiosity sends foot traffic there, and your job is to be the second name that comes to mind once the curiosity fades.

In a food court, people decide in seconds. When a known sign moves in next to you and your menu and display are not sharp, customers walk straight past. Putting one signature item up front helps protect your average basket.

As food and beverage pulls in more turnover, a mall’s sales per square metre lean harder on that category. For suppliers, chain contracts are big but heavily negotiated, while independent customers are small but loyal.

Diners often pick a restaurant from the map. Current menu photos, correct hours and fresh reviews make you as visible as a chain’s sign.

Visibility on a delivery platform depends on the platform’s own priorities as much as on your menu layout and delivery time. We looked at how platform-side changes affect restaurant partners in our piece on the leadership change at Yemeksepeti, the Turkish food delivery platform. If you can also take orders on your own website, you are not tied to platform commission alone.

Narrow your ads to the area you actually deliver to or that is within walking distance. A short ad that puts your signature item first works harder in those searches than a budget spread across the whole city.

The source report does not give the total number of stores in Türkiye. What is known is that the first store opened in 2013 and that Koru Florya and Kurtköy are the newest additions.

Update your map profile, put the one item that sets you apart up front and narrow your ads to your immediate area. These three steps make sure you are found in the wave of curiosity too.

There is no definite answer; food spending is ahead of overall turnover, but the first half of 2027 is expected to be tough. This is not advice, so run your rent and revenue numbers with your own figures.