Stritzel pursues dream franchise expansion one sandwich at a time

Like Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas with his burgers or Ben and Jerry with their ice cream, Doug Stritzel has a passion for high-quality sandwiches that he hopes will be fit for franchising.

Stritzel, the former COO of the Jimmy John’s restaurant chain, opened Pickleman’s on Old Highway 63 a year ago, and he plans to open a second location downtown within four months.

The Tao of Doug, when it comes to sliced bread and everything in between: “A great sandwich, or a great anything, has balance. A great football team has balance, generally. Anything great in life has balance. A great marriage has balance. The same stuff applies to a sandwich, but most people don’t think of it that way.”

Stritzel goes on to describe how a great sandwich must allow a customer to identify, or “pull out,” every flavor — the roast beef, the cheese, the peppers and the au jus, for example.

Stritzel, a 35-year-old native of Springfield, Ill., has spent a significant part of his life contemplating sandwiches. He began slicing meat for a Jimmy John’s in Urbandale, Ill. Four years later, Stritzel was the corporation’s highest-ranking employee. When he quit, he was the chief operating officer, second only to owner Jimmy John Liautaud.
Today, he’s back behind the counter. Only now he owns the company where he makes sandwiches. And he wants to make Pickleman’s the next big sandwich chain.

Opening a second location is the first step toward his ultimate dream — 100 stores within 10 years — but it isn’t going to be easy.

“In the beginning of a restaurant company, this is a tough thing to do, to get from where I’m at to franchising,” Stritzel said. “But I don’t care if (the turnover rate) is 99 percent; we’re going to be the 1 percent that makes it because that’s just the way I am, and we have a great product.”
Stritzel’s sandwich career began during a break from college. He studied business at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale but wanted to explore his options. So he endured a grueling 90-day, 12-hour-workday management-training course for Jimmy John’s in 1993.

During his first year with the company, a franchisee contacted him to manage the original Jimmy John’s store in Charleston, Ill. Within four weeks, he said, the store’s production had increased 35 percent.

“At that point I said to one of my in-staff people at the time, ‘One day I’m going to run this company,’” he recalled. “She probably thought I was nuts at the time — everybody did — but it took about two more years and I was running the corporate side of the company. Another year after that, and I was running the whole company.”

In less time than most people take to obtain a college degree, Stritzel was upper management in one of the nation’s top sandwich companies.
“I saw an opportunity in Jimmy John’s,” he said. “If it hadn’t worked out, I would have gone back to school. But after making six figures, there’s no way I was going back.”

Stritzel left the company in 2000 because of a payment dispute. During his seven years with Jimmy John’s, the company had doubled in size from roughly 35 locations to 70. Jimmy John’s now operates upwards of 450 franchises nationwide with 210 additional stores projected to open by the end of 2007.
After leaving Jimmy John’s, Stritzel spent roughly a year in the corporate offices of Ritter’s Frozen Custard before managing a Wendy’s franchise group in Detroit, Mich., for three years.

Something was nagging Stritzel all the while. He was tired of working for other people. It was time for something new. He decided to open his own sandwich shop.

After much deliberation, he and his wife, Nikki, came up with the name “Pepperjack’s,” in honor of their son, Jack. Unfortunately, the name was trademarked. Stritzel was stumped.

Inspiration came while the family was visiting friends in Chicago. Their friends’ daughter walked in on Nikki changing Jack’s diaper. Giggling, she ran back to her father and said, “Look, Daddy! Jack has a pickle!”
The name stuck.

Last year, Pickleman’s opened amidst booming construction. Campus Lodge andGrindstone Canyon Apartments were new to the neighborhood. And since Pickleman’s opened for business, Copper Beach Town Homes also has finished construction.

Since the sandwich shop’s target demographic is the college-age consumer, the proliferation of rental housing surrounding the business brings in a slew of students.

Pickleman’s sits in an isolated pocket of commerce, insulated by sprawling condominium developments south of Nifong Boulevard, the Hinkson Creek Nature Area and residential areas directly north of Stadium Boulevard. The restaurant shares a building with Grindstone Liquor Store and Sky Hi Bar & Grill.

Stritzel said Columbia’s sandwich market is tough, but business is good.
Competitors include numerous single-outlet shops around town. Jimmy John’s has three locations, Quizno’s has three, W.G. Grinders has four, and Subway has 12.

Despite increasing competition, local Jimmy John’s franchise owner Mike Monahan said there is plenty of room for more growth. Monahan owns the franchises at 1019 E. Broadway, 912 A Rain Forest Parkway and 212 Corporate Lake Drive. He is currently building two additional stores in Columbia.
He said there’s no rivalry among shops in town because a customer could be hungry for a different sandwich every day of the week.

“People ask me all the time who I think our competition is,” Monahan said. “And I say, ‘pizza delivery,’ because our business, since I’ve taken over here, is four times what it used to be.”

Monahan bought his first Jimmy John’s franchise in August 2000. Stritzel had quit working for the company already, so the two never had met. But Monahan did stop by Pickleman’s to see the store when he learned that the former Jimmy John’s COO was in Columbia.

“I think he picked up quite a bit of what he learned at Jimmy John’s,” Monahan said.

The market placement of Pickleman’s does mirror the strategy pursued by Jimmy John’s. Since 1983, Jimmy John’s has built its brand
recognition on college campuses across America.

However, differences between the two restaurants are obvious. Stritzel orders gourmet bread from Chicago, while Jimmy John’s franchises bake fresh bread.

Pickleman’s emphasizes hot toasted sandwiches, while Jimmy John’s sells mostly cold cuts.

“Obviously I don’t have big corporate budget behind me, but I have a lot more flexibility in developing a concept,” he said.
“You have so many sandwich shops that are so similar that it’s hard to penetrate into a new market and have any success. That’s what we are. We’re different.”

Customers entering Pickleman’s for the first time discover a warm, cozy environment. Stritzel wanted to steer clear of his former employer’s signature irreverent slogans and signs. Instead, he invested in wood paneling, wooden tables, intimate enclosed booths and even stained-glass light fixtures.

Since opening, he has tried a fruit cup on the menu, which didn’t work, and he has revised the pricing structure.

Recently, he added a thin-crust pizza to the menu. Stritzel said the lessons will serve as managerial guidelines for future stores.
The first part of Stritzel’s dream is done. The next part is just beginning.

“This is my livelihood,” he said. “My goal is to create something for my family and leave a legacy. You get one shot at this. This is my shot.