Last week, we learned that a big burger chain and a meaty brand of steakhouses had nabbed some of the government’s coronavirus relief money for small businesses.
To critics, the revelations were red meat — shouldn’t the money go to businesses that are actually, y’know, small?
So on Monday, the bougie bovine specialists at Shake Shack changed their minds.
The company, which operates ~189 restaurants in the US and reported almost $600m in revenue last year, received $10m of the $349B in the Small Business Administration’s coronavirus relief funds.
In a blog post, Danny Meyer and Randy Garutti, the Shack’s founder and CEO, said the loan program “came with no user manual and it was extremely confusing.”
They’re giving the corona cash back. And they’re very sorry for swiping the little guy’s french fries.
Shake Shack’s decision to return the money won’t come close to overcooking the company’s finances. It raised $150m in an equity offering last week.
The company’s move to extinguish the PR flames means the smoke in its kitchen is clearing. But people are licking their chops to give other chains a turn or 2 on the grill.
They took advantage of a provision in the coronavirus relief package that let them seek loans for different subsidiaries.
Congress is still hammering out the details of a 2nd infusion of cash for the PPP, which could add another $300B+ to the fund.
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