By JALEN WADE
The international fast-food chain Shake Shack opened in College Park on Dec. 11 in Union on Knox, a new student apartment building.
Customers stood outdoors in the rain waiting to enter the store, known for its burgers and milkshakes, during the grand opening event. The company promised to donate $1 for every sandwich sold that day to the University of Maryland (UMD) Food Pantry and served shakes to early customers in souvenir tumblers.
“It’s been made very clear since when we first broke ground here that the students are very excited about us as a brand,” Tom Hunton ,the store’s regional director of operations, said. “There’s just a ton of activity. There’s obviously a lot of development happening on campus, and we felt like this was a great time to get into the neighborhood.”
The College Park store is located at 4394 Knox Road, next to Terrapins Turf restaurant and bar and across Baltimore Avenue from city hall.
College Park is the 10th Maryland location for the New York-based Shake Shack chain.
Customers at the grand opening said they were excited about having the well-known establishment in College Park.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Shake Shack,” Chloe Burfeindt, an animal science major at UMD, said. “I go to one near my home in New Jersey. It’s a good family restaurant outing, and I was very excited to see that they were putting one in College Park.”
Hunton said he hopes the location will be a gathering place for UMD students.
“It’s kind of our ambition,” Hunton said. “ Anytime we go into any community, [we] offer a place for that community to gather in whichever way they want. So whether that’s a study break or that’s an after-an- exam milkshake or a Friday night hang, we just want to be that place for our community.”
Union on Knox will be the future home of Chopt Creative Salad Co. and Duck Donuts, which were scheduled to open this fall.