{"id":16688,"date":"2022-01-20T14:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T20:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=16688"},"modified":"2022-02-10T13:46:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T19:46:12","slug":"shake-shack-to-open-in-student-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2022\/01\/20\/shake-shack-to-open-in-student-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Shake Shack to open in Student Center"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Photo by Julianne Baker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack of Marion, Arkansas, announced plans to open a new location in the University\u2019s Student Center on their Facebook page on Dec. 22. As of Jan. 19, the Tackers plan to hold a grand opening the week of Jan. 31. The new location will replace Tu Taco in the pit of the Student Center.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack will work in conjunction with Chartwells and feature Searcy\u2019s own Yarnell\u2019s ice cream in milkshakes and other handmade desserts. The Student Center location will offer hand-crafted hamburgers and fries, as well, upon the installation of a new vent hood, projected for mid-February. Students will be able to spend their declining credit balance, as well as cash or card at this location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The late John Tacker and his wife Loretta Tacker opened Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack in Marion in October 1977, after purchasing the Tastee-Freez location in town. Loretta, as well as her children, Jeff Tacker and Lisa Tacker Taylor, have continued the family business alongside their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Loretta was the 2019 winner of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame \u201cProprietor of the Year,\u201d and her peanut brittle has been featured in a Southern Living cookbook. Loretta is affectionately known as \u201cMemaw,\u201d to her family, friends and long-time customers who have become her close friends. One of her favorite long-time customers was former University president Clifton L. Ganus. Loretta said he would stop by Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack anytime he flew out of Memphis, Tennessee, to travel to one of his overseas missions trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we were to have a picture of who the matriarch is on the restaurant, it would be Memaw,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cShe\u2019s held the family together, and her recipes have kept people coming back time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John and Loretta attended Harding from 1966-1970; Jeff began at the University in 1987, and Lisa in 1989, where both siblings graduated and met their spouses. Of Loretta\u2019s five grandchildren, four have attended Harding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior Josh Tacker, the youngest Tacker grandchild, worked at his family\u2019s restaurant all through high school. During his junior year, he said he pitched the idea of opening a location on campus to his family over winter break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI came here and didn\u2019t really want any part of [the restaurant],\u201d Josh said. \u201cWhich is kind of weird, because I have been a part of it my whole life \u2014 but then, I saw an opportunity for my dad right here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark Tacker, Josh\u2019s older brother, has served as head chef at Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack for the past several years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeing a servant is a big part of how I view this business \u2014 serving people good food at a good price, and being able to make someone else\u2019s day better with a great shake or a great burger,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark said that when he was 16 years old, he created the line of unique burgers that Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack is now known for \u2014 with toppings ranging anywhere from cheese sticks to hot dogs to barbeque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy dad has helped me out on the business side \u2014 promoting, managing, teaching me a lot of the business side,\u201d Mark said. \u201cAs far as cooking goes, I have to teach him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Mark and Jeff said this new location was a great step for their overall progress as a franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff said the hiring process for the new location is ongoing. Applications can be found on the restaurant\u2019s website, or requested in person at either location. Mark said no experience is required to apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI look at it like the movie, \u2018Ratatouille,\u2019\u201d Mark said. \u201cAnyone can cook, it\u2019s all about just learning how.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tacker\u2019s Shake Shack of Marion, Arkansas, announced plans to open a new location in the University\u2019s Student Center on their Facebook page on Dec. 22. As of Jan. 19, the Tackers plan to hold a grand opening the week of Jan. 31. The new location will replace Tu Taco in the pit of the Student Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15200,"featured_media":16689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16690,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16688\/revisions\/16690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}