HARLINGEN — Electrical contractors are putting the last touches on Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches on South 77 Sunshine Strip and the sub shop should open this month, a spokesman says.
Jimmy John’s has two stores in McAllen and a store each in Edinburg and Weslaco.
“It should be 18 employees and we plan to open Feb. 27,” said David Brumfield, a spokesman for the sandwich chain.
The development on South 77 Sunshine Strip is on the site formerly known as Sun Valley Motor Hotel and is located between between Chick-fil-A and Oklahoma Avenue.
Also at the site will be an AT&T franchise which is under construction and another 1,500 feet of space still to be leased, said Jack Jennings, director of sales and leasing-South for Lockard Development of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Iowa-based Lockard firm has been moving aggressively in South Texas. Last year, the company opened the $70 million Outlets at Corpus Christi Bay in Robstown.
Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches
After Jimmy John Liautaud graduated second-to-last in his class at Elgin Academy in 1982, his father gave him the choice to join the military or start a business. Liautaud’s father loaned him $25,000 to start a hot dog business, but the younger Liautaud decided a sandwich shop would be better.
On Jan. 13, 1983, the first Jimmy John’s opened in a garage in Charleston, Illinois. Paying $200 a month in rent, the business consisted of refrigerator, a chest freezer, an oven and a meat slicer.
The store was quickly profitable due to Jimmy John’s willingness to deliver sandwiches to the nearby dorms at Eastern Illinois University.
Jimmy John’s has 2,727 stores operating today.
Source: Wikipedia
