Potbelly Sandwich Works

Potbelly Corporation
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: PBPB
Industry Fast casual
Founded 1977
Founder Peter Hastings
Headquarters River Center 111. N.Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois
Number of locations
 413
Key people
 Aylwin Lewis,
Chairman & CEO
Bryant Keil,
Founding Chairman
Products Sandwiches, Salads, Soups, Ice Cream
Revenue $326.98 million (2014)
$4.358 million (2014)
Website potbelly.com
The first Potbelly Restaurant, in Lincoln Park, Chicago.
A view inside the first Potbelly Restaurant seating area
A location in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Potbelly Corporation is a publicly traded restaurant chain that sells submarine sandwiches in the United States. The company is headquartered at the River Center at 111 N. Canal Street, in Chicago, Illinois.[1]

History

Potbelly Sandwich Shop was founded in 1977 by Peter Hastings. The original store is located at 2264 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, in a retail space that was previously an antique store called Hindsight, also owned by Hastings. Many of the items that decorated the restaurant were taken from the former antique store.[2] In 1996, Bryant Keil purchased the original store. Keil quickly expanded the store. The second store was opened in 1997 and he expanded Potbelly to over 300 stores in several states and the District of Columbia.,[3][4] Investors include Maveron and American Securities.[5]

Potbelly's menu features a variety of sandwiches that are all served hot on regular or multigrain wheat bread. All sandwiches can be ordered "thin-cut" style, in which one third of the bread is cut out. Potbelly began offering salads in February 2007. The menu also includes soup, shakes, malts, smoothies, and cookies. Most restaurants feature live music from local musicians during the lunch hours.

On November 5, 2007, a new Potbelly store in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, became the first to feature a drive-through. A second drive-through store was added shortly thereafter in Waukegan, Illinois.

In 2011, Potbelly opened two franchise stores in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; these are the first international Potbelly locations. Additionally, Potbelly has the most corporate owned sandwich stores in the US.

In August 2013, Potbelly filed an IPO with US regulators to raise up to $75 million.[6] Shares in the company began trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market on October 4, 2013.

Potbelly opened its first European store at Westfield Stratford City, London, in July 2015.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions." Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Retrieved on February 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Our Story". Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Blessing, Anna H. (September 13, 2004). "Bob Schwartz: Potbelly's district manager is on the fast track, works with 'the people' to employ corporate standards". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Timeline". Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Potbelly warms up an IPO: Reuters
  6. ↑ Avik Das (29 August 2013). "Sandwich maker Potbelly files for IPO of up to $75 million". Reuters.
  7. ↑ Murphy-Bates, Sebastian (2015-05-23). "Stratford to welcome first Potbelly in Europe". Newham Recorder. Retrieved 2015-07-28.

External links

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