Building Jersey Mike's - 25 Unit Operator

Kavrin McGuire operates 25 Jersey Mike’s locations alongside his father and brother.

• How Jersey Mike’s maintains product quality at scale
• What it’s actually like operating a high-volume sandwich business
• Why Peter Cancro built such intense loyalty among franchisees
• The truth about the Blackstone acquisition rumors
• How Kavrin’s family scaled through acquisitions + development
• Why they bought the entire state of Minnesota for Mike’s Red Tacos

We also dive deep into staffing, operations, digital ordering, real estate strategy, small-town expansion, and what separates great restaurant operators from average ones.

CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:54 How Kavrin’s family found Jersey Mike’s 03:22 Learning restaurant ops from the ground up 05:20 The reality of running a restaurant 07:57 Why Jersey Mike’s ops are harder than Little Caesars 11:10 Staffing a Jersey Mike’s lunch rush 13:50 How Jersey Mike’s built its digital ordering system 15:22 Why Jersey Mike’s became a breakout brand 16:50 Peter Cancro’s obsession with sandwich quality 20:26 Stories that explain why franchisees love Peter Cancro 25:53 Kavrin’s role running 25 Jersey Mike’s 27:31 Building a long-term leadership team 29:26 Acquiring Jersey Mike’s locations 31:58 Real estate strategy + buildout costs 34:33 Can Jersey Mike’s work in small towns? 37:17 Jersey Mike’s culture of giving 42:31 Blackstone, Charlie Morrison & the future of Jersey Mike’s 47:14 How much white space Jersey Mike’s still has 50:59 Why they bought Mike’s Red Tacos 54:38 Betting on birria tacos as the next big category 57:17 Mike’s Red Tacos operations explained 01:00:42 Comparing Mike’s Red Tacos vs Jersey Mike’s ops 01:04:42 Long-term vision for both brands 01:06:09 Final thoughts