Jersey Mike’s Turns the Page With a Faster Franchise Growth Plan

Jersey Mike’s, now under Blackstone ownership after an $8 billion deal in November 2024, is gearing up for a new wave of expansion. CEO Charlie Morrison has said the chain has room to roughly double its U.S. footprint over time while beginning a push into Europe.

The brand now sits at over 3,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada and climbed to the No. 1 spot on Entrepreneur’s 2026 Franchise 500 rankings after eight straight years in the top 10.

Morrison, a longtime franchise executive who previously led Wingstop and Salad and Go, says the runway remains substantial. “We’re at about 3,200 stores now,” he said. “We could probably double that in the U.S. as we go forward.”

For Morrison, the growth story runs through franchising, and it starts with store-level results. He has told franchisees that his “number-one priority is their return on investment,” and he’s measuring expansion against cash-on-cash returns and the unit economics that drive reinvestment. He also expects a large share of future openings to come from within the system, with existing operators adding stores instead of the brand relying mainly on new franchisees.

At the same time, Morrison is positioning the brand as one that can scale without changing what made it successful. He has warned against adding menu complexity for the sake of innovation and has pushed a “keep it simple” approach built on execution and consistency.

“Why would we change what’s working so well?” he said of the brand’s long-standing prep standards.

Jersey Mike’s has put a firm timeline on international growth. The company signed a franchise agreement to develop 400 locations in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with founder and chairman Peter Cancro leading the effort through JM Submarines UK LTD. The first store is expected to open in 2026, marking the brand’s first move into Europe.

For franchisees, the focus is expansion without dilution. Jersey Mike’s is pursuing new units while protecting the product and the store-level economics that encourage existing operators to keep reinvesting.

Read the original articles here:

• Entrepreneur: Jersey Mike’s Sold for $8 Billion. Their New CEO Is Ready to Double Their 3,200 U.S. Locations
• PR Newswire: Jersey Mike’s Launches New Chapter of Growth With International Expansion Into the U.K. and Ireland

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