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🔴 PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Jimmy John's
fast-casual · Champaign, IL
PE Firm
Roark Capital
Acquirer
Inspire Brands
Year Acquired
2016
“Freaky fast delivery. Freaky slow growth after private equity moved in.”
The PE Playbook
- •Roark Capital acquired Jimmy John's for ~$3 billion in 2016; sales per store dropped from $877K to $753K by 2019 — a 14% decline
- •New store openings collapsed from nearly 300 in 2015 to steady annual decline under Roark ownership
- •Forced minimum-wage sandwich makers to sign non-competes barring them from working at any nearby sandwich shop; Illinois AG sued
- •Roark flipped Jimmy John's to its own Inspire Brands subsidiary in 2019 — PE selling to itself
Since the Acquisition
- ▸Average sales per store fell from $877,000 in 2015 to $753,000 by 2019 — a 14% decline per location under Roark ownership
- ▸New store openings collapsed: from nearly 300 new stores in 2015 (5th fastest-growing chain) to net negative growth by 2019
- ▸Viral TikTok videos in 2024-2025 showed shockingly small $10 sandwiches with paper-thin layers of meat — one video hit 3 million views
- ▸Merged into Roark's Inspire Brands conglomerate — losing its identity as a founder-led sandwich shop