How SwagWear Built Shake Shack's New Hire Welcome Kits and Manager Graduation Boxes

The Brief

Shake Shack came to SwagWear with a two-part challenge: create a branded welcome kit for every new home office hire, and design a separate premium graduation gift box for newly promoted managers and Area Directors across their US locations. The relationship started through Idris Stover, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Culture, who had already been working with SwagWear on new hire swag boxes — and knew exactly who to call when VP of Operations Support Elizabeth Watkins needed something bigger.

"Thanks again for partnering with Shake Shack to deliver swag boxes to new hires joining our Home Office team!" — Idris Stover, Director, DE&I & Culture, Shake Shack

The Challenge

Shake Shack needed two distinct programs at two different price points — a $30–$35 welcome kit that felt fun and on-brand, and a $60–$70 graduation box that felt like a genuine reward for newly promoted leaders. Everything had to be scalable across hundreds of locations, easy to reorder, and true to Shake Shack's playful yet premium brand identity.

The SwagWear Solution

The SwagWear team built out both programs from scratch:

Welcome Kit (~$30–$35 per person)

• Branded pen
• Custom notebook
• Shake Shack branded water bottle
• TravisMathew branded hat
• Custom Shake Shack stickers (hamburger, fries, logo) — added as a fun, low-cost brand touch that made every box instantly recognizable

Area Director Graduation Box (~$60–$70 per person)

• North Face Vest or Nautica Vest (custom branded)
• YETI tumbler (laser engraved with Shake Shack logo)
• Custom branded hat
• Shake Shack sticker set

The SwagWear team also proactively sourced backup options when the North Face vest ran low on inventory in black, ensuring the program could keep running without delays. When Ramon Morales from the Regional Training Partner team began ordering for the west coast Area Directors, the SwagWear team scaled the program seamlessly — and began discussing rolling it out organization-wide.

The Result

A scalable, two-tier swag program that made every new Shake Shack hire feel welcomed and every promoted manager feel recognized. The program grew from home office new hire kits to regional director graduation boxes — with potential to expand across the entire Shake Shack organization.

"We are considering rolling this out for the entire organization." — Ramon Morales, Regional Training Partner, Shake Shack

Products Featured: North Face Vest, YETI Tumbler, TravisMathew Hat, Custom Notebook, Branded Water Bottle, Custom Shake Shack Stickers

Ready to build your employee onboarding or recognition program? Contact SwagWear