Alwyn Lewis, chief executive of Potbelly, the US sandwich chain, has admitted that he tried to convince the group’s new UK franchise partners from launching the c350-strong brand here and that London is a gateway city for a future expansion into the rest of Europe.
Earlier this year, the group signed a franchise deal with Buraq Retail (Potbelly UK) ltd, a company-backed by Sheikh Holdings Group, to open 10 sites in the capital over the next five years, with the first site opening in the “The Street” part of Westfield Stratford in June.
Lewis said: “We had dinner with them (Sheikh Holdings) and for 70% of dinner I tried to convince them not to open a Potbelly in the UK. At the end of dinner after they looked at it, they were more adamant. So we worked to get an agreement.
“We sent dream teams over to spend multiple weeks as they opened. They have to send folks, three or four people over to train in Chicago before we open. And then we sent one of our best district managers, who’s actually running the shop for them. And that person is on leave from us for one to two years, depending on how we feel about it and how they feel about it. But it’s a great story. Being in London is a gateway city. They got a multi-shop agreement that they’re executing against, and we think it’s great.
“The fact that we signed new franchise agreements in Toronto, which is a gateway city for Canada and also North America, opened a unit in London, another gateway city, definitely in the UK and arguably Europe, I think are positives for the business. These folks would not be trying to attach themselves to the brand if they didn’t see a positive story here.”
Earlier this year, Sheikh Holdings director Akbar Sheikh told M&C that initial expansion targets in London would be the financial districts, where lunchtime trade is high, as well as transport hubs. As all the meat comes in pre-cooked there is no need for extraction, meaning that it can take A1 sites.
After that, Potbelly will expand its horizons and look outside of the capital, although it has no intention to trying to claim Subway’s crown. “There will not be a Potbelly on every single high street in the UK,” he said.
