Augusta Exchange’s revolving door of tenants continues as Jersey Mike’s Subs is moving into the shopping strip across from Chick-fil-A.
This will be the fourth Augusta location for the fast-casual sub-sandwich franchise chain, which already claims spots on Washington Road, Flowing Wells Road and Madeline Drive. It will be sandwiched between Sleep Number and a new Club Pilates studio that is set to open in July.
The restaurant will need about 15 employees and is expected to open in early August. It will be competing with a number of other sandwich shops nearby, including Jimmy John’s, McAlister’s and Roly Poly.
The owners of the Augusta Exchange location, Ryan Hendrix, based in Pooler, Georgia, and Andrew Brooks, based in Charleston, have been franchising Jersey Mike’s restaurants for about 15 years. They also own the new Jersey Mike’s in Evans at 4239 Washington Road, which opened in August 2022.
“At the time when we started, I loved the concept,” Hendrix said. “I thought it had a lot of room for growth. There were about 400 locations when we started and now there’s about 2,500.”
Altogether, they own ten Jersey Mike’s, mostly in the Charleston area. They plan to open at least one more in Augusta, Hendrix said.
Franchising a Jersey Mike’s costs between $144,000 and $786,000, according to the restaurant’s website.
Jersey Mike’s, which started in 1956 in Jersey Shores, has grown to more than 2,500 locations nationwide. It opened 246 locations in 2021, up about 13% from the previous year.
It was the fastest-growing fast-food chain in the U.S. in 2022 with $2.2 billion in sales for the previous year, according to QSR magazine, a publication for quick-service and fast-casual restaurant news. It was also listed as number three on Entrepreneur’s 2023 Franchise 500.
The company, which is based in Manasquan, N.J., has been able to keep up with the times by offering healthier options, like Gluten free bread. Last year, its grilled portabella mushroom and Swiss sub was named the best healthy fast-food sandwich by the popular nutrition advice site Eat This, Not That!
