Potbelly Sandwich Shop facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: PBPB Russell 2000 Component |
| Industry | Fast casual |
| Founded | January 14, 1977 |
| Founder | Bryant Keil |
| Headquarters | The Gogo Building, 111 N. Canal Street,
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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Number of locations
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424 (as of January 3, 2024) |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Robert Wright, President & CEO Bryant Keil, Founding chairman |
| Products | Sandwiches, salads, soups, ice cream |
| Revenue |  US$485.1 million (FY Ended 9/24/2023) |
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Operating income
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-US$22.49 million (FY Ended 12/26/2021) |
| -US$23.78 million (FY Ended 12/26/2021) |
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| Total assets |  US$253.24 million (FY Ended 12/26/2021) |
| Total equity | -US$2.42 million (FY Ended 12/26/2021) |
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Number of employees
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5,500 (As of December 26, 2021) |
Potbelly Corporation, often called Potbelly Sandwich Shop, is a popular American restaurant chain. It's known for its hot submarine sandwiches and tasty milkshakes. Potbelly started in 1977 in Chicago, and its name comes from an old-fashioned potbelly stove.
The menu at Potbelly includes many kinds of hot sandwiches. You can also find soups, shakes, smoothies, potato chips, and cookies. Some Potbelly locations used to have live music from local artists during lunchtime.
Contents
The Story of Potbelly
Potbelly began in a unique way, starting from an antique shop.
How Potbelly Began
In 1971, a person named Peter Hastings opened an antique store called Hindsight. It was located in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. This store had an old potbelly stove. Peter Hastings started using this stove to make toasted sandwiches for his customers.
In 1977, the Hindsight antique store changed into a restaurant. It was named Potbelly Sandwich Works.
Growing the Business
In 1996, Bryant Keil bought the first Potbelly store. He had a vision to make it much bigger. The second Potbelly store opened in 1997. Bryant Keil helped Potbelly grow to over 300 stores across many states and the District of Columbia.
Big investors like Maveron and American Securities helped Potbelly expand. Maveron was co-founded by Howard Schultz, who also started Starbucks. By August 2019, about 10% of Potbelly's more than 450 locations were owned by franchisees. Franchisees are people who buy the right to open and run a store using the Potbelly name and system.
Going Public
In August 2013, Potbelly decided to become a public company. This means its shares could be bought and sold by anyone. They filed paperwork to raise up to $75 million. Potbelly shares started trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market on October 4, 2013. Soon after, the company was valued at about $650 million.
New Features and Locations
On November 5, 2007, a new Potbelly store opened in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. This store was special because it was the first to have a drive-through. Soon after, another drive-through store opened in Waukegan, Illinois.
Potbelly also started to open stores outside the United States. In 2011, two franchise stores opened in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. These were the first Potbelly locations in another country.
In July 2015, Potbelly opened its first European store in London, England. Then, in October 2016, its first Canadian store opened in Toronto. By August 2017, most of Potbelly's sales (60%) came from lunch customers. At that time, they had 424 stores owned by the company and 54 franchised stores.
In December 2017, Potbelly opened its first franchise in India. This new location was in Cyber City, Gurgaon. The company planned to open many more stores in India over the next few years.
Menu Items and Leadership
Potbelly sells Zapp's potato chips. They even had a special Zapp's chip flavor that tasted like a Potbelly pickle!
In July 2020, Robert Wright became the new President and CEO of Potbelly. He used to be an executive at Wendy's.
In April 2022, Potbelly started working with REEF. REEF is a big company that runs virtual restaurants and delivery services. This partnership helped Potbelly offer more delivery options.
Facing Challenges and Growth
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a big drop in sales for many restaurants, including Potbelly. They lost almost 30% of their yearly income and closed 28 stores. However, Potbelly started to recover. In 2022, they announced plans to open 19 new locations. By October 2023, this number grew to 40 new stores.
See also
