Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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RET AILING TODA Y Sandwich with wheels YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO NEW JERSEY TO ENJOY JERSEY MIKE'S SANDWICHES By Joe DiStefano O 26 SCT / SEPTEMBER 2012 of the business to Jersey Mike's Subs — perhaps in a flush of state pride. Today Cancro is CEO of Jersey Mike's Fran- chise Systems, a chain of 550 shops across 31 states. The chain, founded in 1956, when NE NEVER KNOWS WHAT ONE will get when hiring temporary summer staff. Peter Cancro was a 14-year-old when he took a summer job at Mike's Giant Size Subma- rines in 1972. Three years later Cancro purchased that local-landmark sandwich shop in the seaside town of Point Pleasant, N.J., with the help of his football coach — at the time, Cancro was not old enough to legally work the slicer. Over the decade following, Cancro opened two more Mike's shops, and in 1987 he began franchising and changed the name sandwich shops were a novel concept, now ranks 13th in sales among sandwich chains, according to Chicago-based food industry consulting firm Technomic. By the firm's estimate, Jersey Mike's posted some $210 million in sales last year. That may not have category leader Subway (which racked up $11.4 billion in sales last year) biting its nails, or No 2. Arby's ($3.03 billion in sales) pacing the floor at night, but the company does plan to open its first store in New York City by the end of this year and says it is on track to have 1,000 in operation by 2016. Regardless of location, every Jersey Mike's unit pays tribute to the chain's Jer- sey Shore roots with a poster of a retro postcard that reads Greetings from Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Two dozen sand- wiches are on offer, hot and cold, includ- ing such classics as the Jersey Shore's Favorite — stuffed with provolone, ham, and cappacuolo — and the Philly chees- esteak, plus, for those with a giant ap- petite, 15-inch subs. The bread is baked in-house, just as it was in the 1950s, and the deli meats are sliced fresh by a staffer who banters with the customers and en- courages them to dress their sandwiches "Mike's way" — with onions, lettuce, to- matoes and a signature blend of olive oil, red-wine vinegar and spices. "It's an assembly-line process, but we JERSEY MIKE'S AT WESTFIELD SANTA ANITA, ARCADIA, CALIF. don't want it to feel like an assembly-line process," said Hoyt Jones, president of the Manasquan, N.J.–based chain. "We