Monday, February 11, 2019

[BOMBS AWAY!] Jon Smith Subs Secures Space For First Atlanta Area Sub Shop

West Palm Beach, Florida-based Jon Smith Subs has at least two new locations in the works in metro Atlanta.  The franchise sandwich shop lists new locations coming to Johns Creek and Lawrenceville on its website. A specific location is listed for the Johns Creek outpost, while the Lawrenceville location is unspecified.
In Johns Creek, Jon Smith will make the questionable decision of opening in place of another sandwich shop.  Located at 11600 Medlock Bridge Road, Jon Smith Johns Creek will open in place of Lenny's Grill & Subs, a Memphis-based sub franchise that closed last year.

ToNeTo Atlanta reported in January that New Jersey-based Primo Hoagies was opening their first Atlanta area location in Sandy Springs.  At the same time, we detailed the crowded sandwich market locally, where there have been plenty of new entrants but few home run concepts.

In a market dominated by mega chains like Subway, Firehouse Subs, Which Wich, Jimmy John's and  Jersey Mike's Subs, among others, lesser known regional chains have stumbled in their Atlanta expansions.

In 2015, a local franchise group signed a 10-unit agreement with Cincinnati-based Penn Station East Coast Subs for restaurants in metro Atlanta, but nearly four years later has only opened two, one in Druid Hills and the other in Suwanee.  The 2015 release announcing the Atlanta agreement stated that "Penn Station has more than 290 locations in 15 states with a better-than 99.9 percent success rate and only two store closings in 30 years."  Online research indicates that there have been at least five closures in the past few years, which likely had a negative impact on their success rate. 

W.G. Grinders had a least one metro location on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta which has since closed.  Recent market entrants Capriotti's, Charley's and the aforementioned Lenny's Grill & Subs have each closed at least one restaurant locally, and once dominant Blimpie has closed numerous locations in metro Atlanta as sandwich shop competition has grown intense.   

Erbert and Gerbert's, Larry's Giant Subs and Slack's Hoagie Shack have also stumbled locally with each having opened and closed locations in metro Atlanta not long after their debuts. 

Adding to the challenges and competition facing new and emerging brands are known businesses like Publix, QuikTrip and RaceTrac elevating their sandwich game to attract customers. 

Jon Smith, like Charley's and Lenny's, specializes in grilled subs.  In Jon Smith's case, they are known for their grilled sirloin steak & chicken and especially their "Steak Bomb" sandwich.  

Have you ever tried Jon Smith Subs?  What is your favorite sandwich chain locally or regionally?  What sandwich shop would you like most to see open in metro Atlanta?

Please share your thoughts below  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to this concept...love me some grilled subs! More important than location to many people, is the quality/attitude/hygiene of workers...many new establishments miss this, and suffer the consequences.

Anonymous said...

Penn Station is delicious though I really am surprised that the Druid Hills location is still open. It has almost zero visibility from the road (I think it is blocked by outparcel Mattress Firm), which I'd think would be important for a QSR with little to no local history/recognition.

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