Potbelly Corporation, more commonly known as Potbelly Sandwich Shop or Potbelly Sandwich Works, is a publicly traded American fast-casual

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

that focuses on

submarine sandwich A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, is a type of American cold or hot sandwich made from a submarine roll (an elongated bread roll) that is split lengthwise and filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments. Although "subma ...

es and

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

s. Potbelly was founded in 1977 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and its name refers to the

potbelly stove A potbelly stove is a cast iron, cast-iron, coal-burning or wood-burning stove that is cylindrical with a bulge in the middle.Philip Babcock Gove, Gove PB (editor in chief) (1981). ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Lang ...

. Potbelly's menu features a variety of sandwiches that are all served hot, and the menu includes soup, shakes,

smoothie A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt or ice cream. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dairy milk, cru ...

s, potato chips, and cookies. Some locations formerly presented live music from local musicians during the lunch hours.

History

In 1971, Peter Hastings started an

antique store An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

, Hindsight, at 2264 North Lincoln Avenue in the

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

neighborhood of Chicago. The store had an old potbelly stove, which Hastings began using to make toasted sandwiches to serve to shoppers. In 1977, the Hindsight store was retooled into a restaurant, Potbelly Sandwich Works. Since 1977, Potbelly has partnered with Turano in Chicago for their bread products. In 1996, Bryant Keil purchased the original store and expanded the company, The second store was opened in 1997, and he expanded Potbelly to over 300 stores in several states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Investors include

Maveron Maveron is an American venture capital firm that invests in consumer-only and early-stage companies, with offices in Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California. The firm was co-founded by Dan Levitan and former Starbucks chief executive ...

(Founded by

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

Founder,

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...

) and

American Securities American Securities LLC is an American private equity firm based in New York with an office in Shanghai that invests in market-leading North American companies with annual revenues generally ranging from $200 million to $2 billion and/or $50 mill ...

. As of August 2019, approximately 10% of the chain's 450+ locations were franchisees. Seating area in the very first Potbellys Restaurant

On November 5, 2007, a new Potbelly store in

Glen Ellyn, Illinois Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census. History Glen Ellyn, like the neighboring town to the east, Lomba ...

became the first to feature a

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their c ...

. A second drive-through store was added shortly thereafter in

Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 89,321, makin ...

. In 2011, Potbelly opened two franchise stores in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

; these are the first international Potbelly locations. In August 2013, Potbelly filed an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

with US regulators to raise up to $75 million. Shares in the company began trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

Stock Market on October 4, 2013. The market cap shortly after the IPO was approximately $650,000,000. Potbelly opened its first European store at

Westfield Stratford City Westfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, which opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of , it is the largest urban shopping centre in the UK by land area and the List of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in July 2015 and its first Canadian store in Toronto in October 2016. By August 2017, 60% of Potbelly's business came from lunch. It had 424 owned stores and 54 franchised stores. Early that month, Potbelly announced it was considering putting itself for sale. In December 2017, Potbelly opened its first franchise in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with a new location in Cyber City,

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

. The company signed a multi-franchise agreement with India's Kwals Group, with plans to open five franchises in the country by the end of 2018 and 20 locations over the next five years. Potbelly carries Zapp's potato chips and previously had an exclusive Zapp's brand of dill pickle chips that had the flavor of a Potbelly pickle. In July 2020, Potbelly named Robert Wright, a former executive of

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

, its new President and CEO. In April 2022, Potbelly entered its first delivery-based franchise partnership with REEF, the largest operator of virtual restaurants, logistics, and proximity hubs in North America. Decreased sales caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

resulted in nearly 30% loss in annual revenue and 28 store closures. In 2022, the chain announced 19 new locations were opening which increased to 40 in October 2023. In 2023, Potbelly announced a 22-shop agreement in the Seattle-Tacoma region. In January 2024, Potbellys unveiled a redesigned Potbelly Perks loyalty program with new benefits.

Controversies

During the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis, Potbelly Sandwich Shop applied for and accepted $10 million under the PPP (

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the First presidency of Donald Trump, Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and ...

), which the United States government created for small businesses to maintain workers through the COVID-19 crisis. Potbelly Sandwich Shop announced on April 25, 2020, that they would return the $10 million loan. Potbelly Sandwich Shop in downtown Portland paid almost $100,000 to fight unions. 11-16-06-EPMN-potbelly

References

External links

Official website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States 1977 establishments in Illinois 2013 initial public offerings American companies established in 1977 Companies based in Chicago Companies listed on the Nasdaq Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Fast casual restaurants Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1977 Restaurants in Chicago Submarine sandwich restaurants

History

Controversies

See also

References

External links