On January 13, 1983, the first menus for jimmy johns opened in a garage in Charleston, Illinois. Paying $200 monthly in rent, Liautaud could only afford used equipment composed of a refrigerator, a chest freezer, an oven, along with a meat slicer.[10]
Their grocer managed to realize revenue its first year of economic, regardless of the poor location of your store, as a result of Jimmy John’s willingness to offer his sandwiches to the nearby dorms at Eastern Illinois University, as well as his handing out free samples for marketing purposes.
In April 1985, Liautaud bought out his father’s interest in the business, becoming the sole owner. In 1986, he opened his second store in Macomb, Illinois, and also in 1987, he opened another in Champaign, Illinois.
In 1988, Liautaud met Jamie Coulter, who would later get to be the CEO of Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon. Coulter mentored Liautaud, and “taught [him] how you can effectively run multiple units.”
Liautaud continued opening more stores and developed a prototype prior to starting franchising in 1994. Franchising continued until 2002 when Liautaud stopped selling franchises for one year to present support for stores that had been struggling.[11] The very first franchise store opened in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In 2001, the hundredth Jimmy John’s store opened in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. In 2007, the 5-hundredth store opened in Seattle, Washington, and then in 2010, the thousandth opened in Beaverton, Oregon.
Since March 2017, Jimmy John’s has almost 3,000 stores with plans for expansion around 5,000 and beyond.
CNNMoney listed Jimmy John’s as one of ten “Great Franchise Bets.” The corporation estimates that annual sales can be as high as $1.2 million while net profits can average at about $280,000. Real dexjpky15 start-up costs are estimated to become between $305,000 and $485,500.
Liautaud realized that to be able to grow he would need help acquiring better locations for his stores. Since he had little expertise in real estate, he decided to consider somebody who did. In January 2007, Liautaud sold a 33% stake to Weston Presidio, a San Francisco-based private-equity firm.[14] In the 1st year after partnering with Weston Presidio, 100 real-estate deals were closed.