Peter Cancro showed a lot of gumption about 47 years ago when, as a high school student, he bought a submarine sandwich shop on the Jersey Shore. Now, Jersey Mike’s Subs is a $2.2 billion chain.
Hoyt Jones, president of Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, recounted Cancro’s American success story at ICSC’s recent New York conference. Cancro wasn’t present, but his ears must have been ringing back in Manasquan, New Jersey, where Jersey Mike’s is now based.
During a fireside chat, Jones told ICSC CEO Tom McGee that in 1971 Cancro, then a high school freshman, started working summers at a sandwich shop in Point Pleasant.
The eatery had debuted in 1956 but had gone through several ownership changes. In spring 1975, when Cancro was a senior, he heard the shop was up for sale, according to Jones.
“And he went to bed on a Sunday night, woke up the next morning and said, ‘You know what? I think I’m going to try to buy that store,’” Jones said.
In March that year, 1975, 17-year-old Cancro did buy the sub shop — the business and the building — for $175,000 with the help of his football coach, who was a banker, Jones said.
Business Owner in High School
Cancro “barely graduated, because he had to skip gym classes and a couple of other classes to go work at the store during lunch,” according to Jones.
Fast forward to 1987, when Cancro began franchising Jersey Mike’s. The rest is history, with the chain at 2,400 locations and Cancro its CEO.
Cancro, who declined to elaborate on his career to CoStar News, is still very hands-on at the company, helping sample different sandwich ingredients, Jones said.
“I was literally in the conference room this week with Peter and we were talking supply chain while we were cutting hams,” Jones said.
During at least one past interview, Cancro rolled up his shirt sleeves to jump behind the counter at one of his shops to make a sandwich.
“We want people to be proficient and have the muscle memory to be making subs as fast as even Peter,” Jones said of franchisees.