Jersey Mike's Journey From the Shore to Wall Street
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What makes Jersey Mike’s a fan‑favorite sandwich chain?
Jersey Mike's is one of America's favorite sandwich chains. Alright, we've got today's lunch and we've got Jersey Mike's.
Yo, I'm at Jersey Mike's and I've just learned about the number 99.
Its sandwiches are numbered and influencers online love talking about the best way to order them.
If you ever find yourself in a Jersey Mike's, get this order. This is the number nine clubs. Is this the best Jersey Mike sandwich? Damn! Come on, that looks good. Mike's way with avocado, jalapeno, and extra CPR cherry pepper relish.
When you think of their sandwiches, they're known for being freshly made, piled high with. freshly sliced meat and vegetables and available in hot and cold. If you want a really indulgent meat sandwich, you can get it.
That's our colleague Heather Haddon. She covers restaurants and, by the way, her go-to order is the tuna fish.
So like the number 13 is the original Italian, which has provolone, ham, prosciutto, cappuccolo, salami, and pepperoni. Oh my goodness, that is so much meat.
This sandwich has about 730 calories, 61 grams of protein, 62 grams of carbs, so it would make the perfect post-training or post-game meal. But in terms of taste and quality, Jersey Mics is still justified.
Last week, this fan favorite sandwich shop took its business one step further. It went public on the stock market.
Jersey Mike's is looking to cash in on the market's appetite. The sandwich chain making its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker JMKE after raising $1 billion in its IPO.
And now that it's public, Jersey Mike's is kicking off a new era. Not only does it have to contend with the ups and downs of the restaurant industry, it also has to balance investors' needs with what its hardcore sandwich fans want.
Once you're a public company, things really change. There's just more scrutiny on how you operate, and there's just more transparency about it.
Will Jersey mics be able to keep everyone coming back for more? Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza.
How did Jersey Mike’s go from a Jersey Shore shop to a national franchise?
It's Friday, August 7th.
Coming up on the show, Jersey Mike's Journey from the Jersey Shore to Wall Street.
In nineteen fifty six, a small sandwich shop called Mike Subs was founded on the Jersey Shore. In the 70s, the shop's owners decided to sell the business. At the time, a 17-year-old named Peter Cancro was working there. And his mother had the idea that he could take over. It's a story he's told a few times in interviews.
She looked at me and said, Well, why don't you buy it? And I sorta laughed and went upstairs and that's when the light bulb went off. And the next morning got up, went out to try and raise the capital.
Which is kind of incredible both from his business instincts but also his mom's business instincts.
Kankro was still in high school. He'd planned to play football in college and maybe go to law school someday. But instead, he scraped together $125,000 from his football coach, who was also a local banker.
Which today's dollars is about seven hundred and fifty thousand. And they always said, Why did you lend so much money to such a young kid? And no lie, he said, I knew Peter could get the ball across the goal line.
So, you know, he always said he was a quick study. He was used to working on a team from working in football and knew how to lead others. So he said he was quick to learn the meat slicer and how to make a good sandwich. And so he had success.
Visitors to the Jersey Shore flocked to the shop, and Cancrow noticed something that some tourists would wrap up the sandwiches and take them back home. It made him think that maybe these subs could be popular beyond New Jersey. So Cancro began to expand Mike's subs into something bigger. In 1987, he started franchising, and he rebranded to the name Jersey Mike's to reflect the company's roots. Then in the nineties, the company hit a rough patch.
This is World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Good evening. We begin tonight with the recession. When will it end?
During the nineteen ninety one recession, Jersey mics almost went broke.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What makes Jersey Mike’s a fan‑favorite sandwich chain?
0:05–2:20
2
How did Jersey Mike’s go from a Jersey Shore shop to a national franchise?
2:20–6:09
3
Why did Peter Cancro decide to buy the original shop at 17?
6:09–10:14
4
What challenges did Jersey Mike’s face during the 1990s recession?
10:14–17:05