Jersey Mike's Subs - Wikipedia

American sandwich shop A Sub Above, LLC

Jersey Mike's restaurant in Valdosta, Georgia
Trade name	Jersey Mike's Subs
Formerly	Mike's Giant Submarine Shop (1956–1960)Mike's Submarines (1960–1975)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Restaurants
Genre	Fast casual
Founded	Mike's Giant Submarine Shop:1956; 70 years ago (1956)Point Pleasant, New Jersey, U.S.Jersey Mike's:1975; 51 years ago (1975)
Founder	Mike's Giant Submarine Shop: Michael Ingravallo and Marie IngravalloJersey Mike's:Peter Cancro
Headquarters	Wall Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Number of locations	3,500 (2023)
Areas served	United States Canada Mexico
Key people	Charlie Morrison (CEO)
Products	Subs
Revenue	US$974.1 million (2021)
Number of employees	19,000 (2021)
Parent	Blackstone
Website	www.jerseymikes.com
Footnotes / references[1][2][3][4]

A Sub Above, LLC, doing business as Jersey Mike's Subs, is an American multinational submarine sandwich chain headquartered in Manasquan, New Jersey. The Jersey Mike's franchise has about 3,500 locations, with locations in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.[3]

History

[edit]

In 1971, at age 14, Peter Cancro of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, took a part-time job at Mike's Submarines, a neighborhood sandwich shop in the adjacent borough of Point Pleasant at 1009 Trenton Avenue. The eatery, founded in 1956, was only a few blocks west of Point Pleasant Beach High School and was then on its third owner. It was originally named Mike's Giant Submarine Shop[5] after its original owner, Michael Ingravallo, who, with his wife Marie, owned several locations in New Jersey and Florida as part of her family's business.[6]

Marie's father, Jimmy Lepore, immigrated from Caserta, Italy, in 1922 and opened his first submarine shop on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx. After his family moved to New Jersey, they began expanding their business, eventually opening and leasing 13 sub shops up and down the New Jersey coast. By 1979, the family had sold all but two.[7][8]

When the Point Pleasant shop went up for sale again in 1975, Cancro's mother suggested he buy it. With help from a high school football coach, who was also a banker, Cancro, then 17 and a high school senior, pulled together $125,000 in three days.[9][4][10] Cancro is the former majority owner and CEO of the company.

Cancro began franchising the restaurant in 1987. By 2014, it had 750 locations with an additional 650 in some stage of development.[11] In 2015, 197 new locations opened and the total number of Jersey Mike's locations exceeded 1,000.[12] Jersey Mike's locations are gaining a larger presence on the West Coast, particularly Southern California. The original Jersey Mike's location on Trenton Avenue is still used as a training center for the company.

On March 2, 2016, the company opened its Australian first outlet at the Q Super Centre in Mermaid Waters, Gold Coast, Queensland, followed by a second outlet in Benowa Village later that month. Then a third outlet in Browns Plains, Brisbane.[13][14] These were all closed by late 2020, apparently due to the COVID pandemic.[15]

In 2021, the company opened an outlet at the Andares Shopping Mall in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

In January 2024, the company announced a major Canadian expansion with Redberry Restaurants, a large Canadian restaurant operator, in what would be the first major international expansion, with three Ontario locations currently opened in Kitchener, London and Markham, Ontario, with a planned target goal of 300 outlets in the next decade.[16]

On November 18, 2024, it was announced that Cancro had sold a majority interest in the business to Blackstone Inc. for $8 billion;[17] the transaction was completed two months later.[18] On April 28, 2025, Cancro was succeeded as CEO by Charlie Morrison.[19]

Products

[edit]

Like the original 1956 Mike's store, each Jersey Mike's Subs restaurant serves submarine sandwiches, which are made to order, slicing the meats and cheeses as needed. Ordering a sandwich "Mike's Way" tops it with sliced onions, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, oregano, salt, and a red wine vinegar, olive oil and vegetable oil blend (otherwise known as "The Juice"). There is also a signature chopped pepper relish (also called "CPR"), though this isn't included in Mike's Way.

Some Jersey Mike's locations also serve various breakfast sandwiches during the morning hours, including sandwiches made with pork roll, a New Jersey product.

Advertising

[edit]

In September 2022, Jersey Mike's began featuring actor Danny DeVito in its radio and television commercials. DeVito grew up a few miles away from the original Jersey Mike's.[20][21]

See also

[edit]

• List of submarine sandwich restaurants

References

[edit]

1. ^ "How the CEO of Jersey Mike's Turned $125,000 into $1 Billion". Inc.com.
2. ^ "Peter Cancro, Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
3. ^ a b "Start a Jersey Mike's Subs Franchise in 2024". Entrepreneur. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
4. ^ a b Schools, Dave (March 15, 2018). "How Jersey Mike's CEO Turned $125,000 Into $1 Billion". Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
5. ^ "Don Fioretti, 'Ball Manager". Asbury Park Press. February 19, 1958. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
6. ^ "New Sandwich Shop To Open". The Madison Eagle. December 17, 1964. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
7. ^ DeMasters, Karen (September 2, 1979). "Immigrant Traveled Rocky Road To Sub Shop Ownership". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
8. ^ "John Lepore, sandwich store chain owner, dead at 83". Asbury Park Press. January 22, 1983. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
9. ^ "Peter Cancro, Founder/CEO, Jersey Mike's Subs". June 13, 2022.
10. ^ "Lessons From the Sub Shop". The New York Times. June 5, 2010. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
11. ^ Kulikowski, Laurie (February 25, 2014). "Jersey Mike's Subs Is Revving Up for Franchise Expansion". TheStreet. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
12. ^ "Jersey Mike's Finishes 2015 with Strong Unit Growth". QSR magazine. January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
13. ^ "Why US food chain Jersey Mike's Subs is setting up on Australian shores". Smart Company. March 2, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
14. ^ Stowe, -Sarah (March 1, 2016). "US fast food giant Jersey Mike's Subs heading to Australia". Franchise Business. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
15. ^ "Gold Coast businesses that have opened and closed - Jersey Mike's Australia's Facebook page lists its operation as "permanently closed". December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
16. ^ "Jersey Mike's plans major expansion in Canada with Redberry Restaurants". Nation's Restaurant News. January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
17. ^ Sloan, Dylan (November 19, 2024). "Jersey Mike's Founder Is Worth $7 Billion After Blackstone Deal". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
18. ^ "Blackstone completes Jersey Mike's Subs acquisition". NJBIZ. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
19. ^ Valinsky, Jordan (April 24, 2025). "For the first time in about 50 years, Jersey Mike's has a new CEO". CNN. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
20. ^ Shaw, David."DeVito! Although He Has a Penchant for Dark Comedies, Actor-Director Danny DeVito Is Serious About His Craft, His Family and His Cigars" Archived 2007-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, Cigar Aficionado profile, accessed May 2, 2007. "Danny DeVito was born in 1944 in the shore town of Neptune, New Jersey—hence the name of his production company—and raised in neighboring Asbury Park, the youngest of five children (two of whom died before he was born)."
21. ^ Kelly, Chris (October 7, 2022). "Campaign Trail: Jersey Mike's Subs serves up authenticity with Danny DeVito". Marketing Dive.

External links

[edit]

• Official website

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