Sometimes amazing stories are right in your own backyard. Growing up in Edison, New Jersey, we used to get subs in Edison from The Tastee Sub Shop. Just when I was growing up, Jersey Mike's Subs were just getting started. I never knew the whole story of their success, but it all started with a part-time job.
In 1971, Peter Cancro, was 14 years old and I was 11. He lived in Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey. After working at Mike's Giant Submarine Shop for three years in Point Pleasant Beach, the store was for sale. His mom suggested that he buy it. (My mom suggested I take Spanish when I was in high school.)
The original company was started in 1956 by Jimmy Lepore who had a number of stores on the east coast. His daughter, Marie Ingravallo, and her husband Mike, owned several stores including the one in Point Pleasant Beach.
In 1974, Peter Cancro, with the help of a high school football coach, who was also a banker, put together $125,000 in three days and bought the store. As I'm writing this sentence I just found out that Jersey Mike's was sold for $8 billion dollars to Blackstone Inc., an equity firm. I think he made a pretty good investment in 1974.
Cancro began franchising the store in 1987 and today has over 3,000 locations and does three billion in revenue. Recently, they started adding stores in Canada and they have stores in The United Kingdom also. If you saw their commercials this year, actor Danny DeVito was in them and he grew up a few miles from the Point Pleasant Beach store.
I've always said that I hit the jackpot when in college I got a part-time job at Burger King and I found my wife of now 41 years. Peter Cancro turned his part-time job into being a billionaire. I think he did pretty well too.
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