Retail Roundup: Jersey Mike's plans 3 more locations for Long Island

Jersey Mike's plans to stack its sub sandwiches in more spots on Long Island.

Three franchises of the chain are planned for the area — Lindenhurst in mid-December, and Stony Brook and Garden City Park in the second quarter of 2019, real estate and franchise officials said.

The Manasquan, New Jersey-based chain’s first Long Island location opened in Commack in 2016, and there are now 12 franchises in the area.

In September, Brian Sommers, senior vice president for franchise and market development at Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems Inc., told Newsday that 10 more locations were “in development” on Long Island.

The area has been a good place for the chain's growth because of its demographics, said Henry Gallo, an area director and franchisee who co-owns Jersey Mike’s shops in Freeport, Bayport and Bellmore.

“There aren’t many areas in the U.S that have the type of (population) density that Long Island has,” he said.

Here are the details on what the chain has slated for Long Island:

•    The Jersey Mike’s franchise planned for Lindenhurst will occupy about 1,500 square feet at 155 W. Sunrise Hwy., in a building that also holds a Popeyes chicken restaurant and Dunkin’ Donuts. 

The sub shop’s franchisees are family members — Laura and Jeff Maier and Neal White — who already own two Jersey Mike’s in Farmingdale and Massapequa Park.

•    A Jersey Mike’s is planned for 1,362 square feet of leased space in Stony Brook, in a retail center being developed in the 1100 block of Route 25A. 

The franchisee group owns three Jersey Mike's locations in Hauppauge, Port Jefferson Station and Deer Park.

•    The sub shop planned for Garden City Park will occupy about 1,300 square feet of leased space in The Point at Garden City Park, a shopping center at 2301-2349 Jericho Tpke., said Greg Batista, a broker at Jericho-based Ripco Real Estate Co.  Batista is Jersey Mike’s exclusive broker on Long Island. 

The franchisee, Jim Denburg, owns two other Jersey Mike’s in Uniondale and Carle Place.

None of the franchisees for the planned locations could immediately be reached for comment.

Founded in 1956, Jersey Mike’s is a privately owned fast-casual chain with more than 1,500 sub shops open or under development nationwide.

It is one of the faster-growing sandwich chains, with 18 percent increases last year in both store counts and sales growth, the latter to about $975 million, said David Henkes, senior principal at Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based restaurant industry research firm.  

“I think part of it is how they’re positioned,” he said.

Fast-casual eateries are characterized as having higher-quality ingredients and somewhat upscale décor compared to fast-food places, and that is on trend with what consumers desire, he said.

Customers are willing to pay more for those amenities, too.

Jersey Mike’s average check is $9.80 nationwide, compared to $8.10 at Subway, the largest fast-food sandwich chain in store numbers.

Retail Roundup is a column about major retail news on Long Island — store openings, closings, expansions, acquisitions, etc. — that is published online and in the Monday paper. To read more of these columns, click here. If you have news to share, please send an email to Newsday reporter Tory N. Parrish at tory.parrish@newsday.com.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.