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Chris Cornwell spent the first 27 years of his life in Sacramento, California. It wasn&#39;t until he was offered a job at Apple Inc. in Austin, Texas that Chris, a married man by then, decided to move away from the city he&rsquo;d long called home. It was less than a decade later, when Chris and his wife had a child, that the couple decided to move back to Sacramento to be near their family. Before arriving back in California, Chris already had a new career plan in place, one that would take full advantage of his return home. Cornwell, along with his brother, John, and father, Terry, would open the family&rsquo;s first restaurant franchise, a <a href="http://www.togosfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=for-norcal-native-chris-cornwell-togos-is-home-2705633" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Togo&rsquo;s</a>, the sandwich brand that the Cornwell family had grown up with.

Once the family decided to break into franchising, Chris says landing on <a href="https://togos.1851franchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=for-norcal-native-chris-cornwell-togos-is-home-2705633" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Togo&rsquo;s</a> was a no-brainer.

&ldquo;We didn&#39;t really look at any other brands,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;We knew we wanted a Togo&rsquo;s. We&rsquo;d always been fans of Togo&rsquo;s growing up, and we wanted to get into something that felt familiar and that we knew we could stand behind.&rdquo;

Chris worked as a project manager at Apple, and he had some experience in the food-service industry. Between those experiences and the support of Togo&rsquo;s corporate team, Chris felt he was well equipped to run the day-to-day operations of a Togo&rsquo;s restaurant.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;d done some research on what it looks like to run a franchise business, and we got in touch with Togo&rsquo;s development team to learn more about their operations specifically,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;It all seemed like something we could be successful with.&rdquo;

After interviewing with the Togo&rsquo;s corporate team and completing the discovery and training processes, the Cornwells took over their first Togo&rsquo;s store, which they purchased from a previous owner who was retiring from the business. Chris says having a staff in place from the store&rsquo;s previous ownership helped them to get up and running quickly and efficiently.

&ldquo;We were on our feet almost immediately,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;The employees and manager there already knew what they were doing, so we didn&#39;t waste any time.&rdquo;

With an experienced staff handling the customer-facing operations, Chris says he, John, and Terry were able to focus on finding which of the high-level operations best suited each of their skillsets.

&ldquo;My father does all of the back-office administrative stuff,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;He deals with vendors, keeps track of our P&amp;L sheet, talks to corporate, things like that. I&rsquo;m more operations focused, and John works with the manager on day-to-day stuff.&rdquo;

The Cornwells were soon able to open their second Togo&rsquo;s store, and now, less than three years after they first reached out to Togo&rsquo;s development team, the Cornwells are preparing to open their third. Chris says that some of that growth can be attributed to the new speed line operational model that Togo&rsquo;s has been rolling out to stores this year.

Until recently, Togo&rsquo;s restaurants used a pay-last model, where customers would place an order at one station, watch as their meal is prepared at the next station, and finally pay at the third station&mdash;the cashier&mdash;when their food is ready. The new speed line model combines the first and third stations, allowing customers to pay as they order at a single station, saving time and reducing communication errors. Chris says the speed line model, which was introduced to one of the Cornwells&rsquo; two stores, has made a marked improvement in the store&rsquo;s operational efficiency.

&ldquo;We knew the speed line model was being introduced to a few select stores at the end of last year, so we got in touch with corporate and asked them to consider our store,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;The store is very busy, so the idea of getting customers in and out faster was very appealing, and it worked.&rdquo;

As the Cornwells prepare to open their third Togo&rsquo;s, Chris says there is no doubt that they will open the store with the speed line model right off the bat, and he&rsquo;s eager to implement any other upgrades that the corporate team has on the docket.

&ldquo;The leadership we have right now and the direction the company is moving in is really exciting,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy we came on board when we did because you can see Togo&rsquo;s is preparing to do really great things in the next couple of years.&rdquo;

Operational innovations aside, Chris says the biggest Togo&rsquo;s selling point is the same one that drew his family to the brand when he was a kid, the sandwiches.

&ldquo;The difference between Togo&rsquo;s and every other sandwich shop comes down to both quality and quantity,&rdquo; Chris said. &ldquo;The sandwiches are so fresh and so delicious, and they never skimp. That&rsquo;s why we always loved to go to Togo&rsquo;s growing up, and that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve found so much success as owners. When we were looking to open a business, we wanted something that we could run as a family, and we wanted something that meant something to us as a family, and that&rsquo;s what we got with Togo&rsquo;s.&rdquo;

For NorCal Native Chris Cornwell, Togo's is Home

1851 Franchise

After moving to Austin, the Sacramento-born franchisee came back home to open his first Togo's restaurant with his brother and father.

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