Steel Your Nerves For Shake Shack's Boston Invasion

This is it, folks: at long last, the blazing hot NYC-based burger chain Shake Shack has announced plans to invade Boston, starting with the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. The Globe reports that Danny Meyer's famed fast food empire will open sometime next year in a 3,000 square foot Boylston St. space left vacant by a children’s store. The years-old rumors of Shake Shack's possible northward expansion spiked last November when the Phantom Gourmet show on WTKK reported hearing things were happening from a real estate insider. At the time, the company told Eater that nothing was doing, but one wonders what took them so long. Why skip over Boston for Miami (sun?) and Dubai ($$$!!!)?

And why Chestnut Hill? The Globe reports that the proximity to Boston College was a factor, but come on: there's, uh, some other colleges around here. In all likelihood, Shake Shack is testing the waters in the burbs before pumping its beloved concretes directly into the heart of the city. Call it the Wegman's strategy. Let the madness begin.

· Shake Shack plans to open first Massachusetts shop in Chestnut Hill [BG]
· NYC's Shake Shack may finally invade Boston [~EBOS~]
· Wegman's coming to Chesnut Hill [~EBOS~]