Mike Manzo’s career with Jersey Mike’s has lasted longer than many marriages. He got involved with the brand in the late 1970s, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers who worked for founder/chief executive officer Peter Cancro when he purchased the precursor, Mike’s Subs, in Point Pleasant, N.J.
It wasn’t his intended plan. Manzo enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in the early 1980s and wanted to become a New Jersey state trooper when his service ended.
“That was in the works until Peter had a thought about mid-1986 to start franchising. That's when he put the name ‘Jersey’ in front of ‘Mike’s’ and we became Jersey Mike’s. Same concept, same processes,” Manzo said during a recent interview.
By then, however, the team had some experience under its belt. Jersey Mike’s expanded to about 35 stores but hit a major bump in the early 1990s when the country dipped into a recession. The entire staff, including Manzo and his older brother, was laid off.
“But we all came back and in ’96 we started refranchising. Through those times we learned a couple of valuable lessons and one was to be true to yourself and true to the brand and culture. Understand what got you here. Don't change it,” Manzo said.
Nearly 30 years later, the company remains committed to those lessons. As such, Jersey Mike’s has been one of the fastest growing chains in the industry, both by sales and unit count. According to Technomic, the chain ended 2023 with about $3.34 billion in sales – a 24.8% year-over-year increase – and 2,684 locations – a 12% year-over-year increase.
Manzo has served as chief operations officer since 2006, before the chain endured yet another recession. Shortly after that downturn, however, the chain turbocharged its growth, and has added more than 1,000 new restaurants in the past nine years. Jersey Mike’s still hasn’t budged from its foundation.
“We have to go back to the basics – believing in each other and pulling people with us. And when they say ‘it’s tough to find employees these days,’ well, they said that in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. It’s always tough, but if you want to recruit … trust each other, believe in each other. Show empathy and support. You will have hard days, but when you put all those factors together, you get through those hard days,” he said.
In addition to people and culture, those “basics” also include a sharp focus on the balance sheet. Manzo said Jersey Mike’s operators “constantly” ask what can be done to control both food and payroll costs, and the company has ramped up its technology investments in the past 10 years to help with both. He also touts the supply chain team, noting that Jersey Mike’s will use 40 million heads of lettuce next year and therefore commits early and often to the growers and the truckers and everyone in between.
“Going through this growth, our word was always true, and our numbers were always true. We never overestimated anything,” he said. “If you can control your labor through a lot of technology and food through your integrity, you can get through these times."
Manzo said nobody in the company understood the technology environment about 20 years ago when such solutions began to permeate the industry, so the company designed its own point-of-sale system.
“We didn't outsource that, which is a very big decision for a non-tech company. This is all trial and error and everybody knew who was doing what. We have a list of priorities based on what our operators need, not based on what corporate thinks. It's all about the operations,” he said.
A focus on tech has certainly helped accelerate Jersey Mike’s expansion, but so, too, has its focus on training. Indeed, the chain considers itself to be a training company that just happens to sell food. There are three phases of training, totaling 500 hours, before an operator can open a store. In 2022, the company conducted more than 5,000 classes in the field, impacting nearly 35,000 employees.
“We always want to be the Ritz-Carlton, the Starbucks of training and I think we’re at that level,” Manzo said.
The focus of that training is refinement inside each restaurant.
“If you can do what you’re supposed to do inside your four walls, you’ll be able to grow. Red ripe tomatoes are very important to us, but if you don't want to sort your tomatoes, if you mishandle your tomatoes, you're probably not going to get another franchise, and that goes back to being true to yourself and true to the brand,” Manzo said. “When we’re selling new franchises, we look at the culture of the folks we’re getting involved with.”
That now includes more international folks. The company’s international presence is nominal, but expect that to change in the near future. Earlier this year, Jersey Mike’s signed an agreement with Redberry Restaurants to open 300 restaurants across Canada by 2034. Redberry also operates more than 200 Burger Kings and Taco Bells in the market and has the infrastructure to ramp up Jersey Mike’s presence as well, Manzo said.
“We have the right people. We have the right finances. We believe we have the right product. Now we have to execute,” Manzo said. “Everybody’s talking about international and that’s probably our next step, but the first step is the right partner.”
With the Canada agreement in tow, Jersey Mike’s expects to open about 300 stores this year. Last year, the company also opened 300 stores. The year before, it was just under 300. Indeed, this is the company’s sweet spot, Manzo said.
“But we don’t chase the numbers,” he said. “It's not the number of stores we have, it’s number of stories. It's the number of food banks that have more food on their shelves. It’s about all the charities and booster clubs and education foundations we support. When we opened store 1,000, [Cancro] said, ‘OK, let’s get back to work.’ And when we opened store 2,000, he said, ‘OK, let’s get back to work.'”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
