Jersey Mike's is one of the most-called accounts in franchise sales, and one of the most misread. It has 3,227 restaurants, grew 8.3% last year, and is backed by Blackstone. That's a big target. But how the brand buys is spelled out in its Franchise Disclosure Document, and it rules out half the pitches vendors walk in with. This post is the buying map for selling into Jersey Mike's: who decides, what they spend, and who actually owns the stores. Every figure comes from the brand's 2026 FDD. For the deeper filing read, see Inside the Jersey Mike's FDD 2026.
How big is Jersey Mike's?
| Metric | As of the 2026 FDD |
|---|---|
| Restaurants | 3,227 (3,201 franchised, 26 company-owned) |
| Unit growth | +8.3% year over year |
| Average unit revenue | $1,367,578 (FY2025, 2,606 traditional franchised restaurants) |
| Royalty | 6.5% of gross sales |
| Brand marketing funds | 5% of gross sales |
| Franchise term | 10 years |
| Ownership | Private equity (Blackstone) |
Who decides on technology at Jersey Mike's: HQ or the franchisee?
For Jersey Mike's, the answer is HQ, in almost every category. We rate the system Locked: HQ mandates the core systems, and it reserves the right to add or change required systems at any time. How mandated tech shows up in a filing is covered in Item 11 and what FDDs reveal about franchise tech stacks.
| Category | Who decides |
|---|---|
| Point of sale | HQ-mandated |
| Payments / card processing | HQ-mandated |
| Loyalty, text and email marketing | HQ-mandated |
| Online ordering | HQ-mandated |
| Labor scheduling and food ordering software | HQ-mandated |
| Gift cards | HQ-mandated |
| Backup internet connectivity | Franchisee picks from an HQ-approved list |
| Phone system | Franchisee choice (HQ owns the phone numbers) |
| HR software | Franchisee choice |
| Accounting | Franchisee's system, but must meet HQ requirements |
| Website and social accounts | HQ-controlled |
Beyond technology, about 85% of a restaurant's ongoing purchases have to come from approved suppliers. If your category is in the top six rows, your buyer is at HQ, and a franchisee who loves your product can't sign. If you sell phone systems or HR software, the franchisee is the buyer, and the multi-unit owners below are where to start. The same split shows up in selling to franchise systems: the filing, not the champion, decides who can sign.
What is a Jersey Mike's restaurant's IT budget?
Here's what a Jersey Mike's restaurant spends on required technology, built from the filing's cost tables (estimates):
- Opening: $14,750–$24,250 per restaurant for point-of-sale hardware and licenses (one to two registers), the connection to HQ's private network, and payments software.
- Recurring: about $465 a month, or about $5,600 a year, for software licensing and support, network monitoring and backup connectivity. The software fee is $395 a month today, and the agreement lets it rise to $795.
- Upgrades: HQ can require technology upgrades up to a cap of $50,000 per restaurant over the 10-year term.
- Online ordering: on top of the monthly fee, franchisees pay HQ $0.2921 per online order plus 3.74% of the sale to cover processing and software, and HQ can charge another $0.2921 per third-party delivery order for integration.
- Across the system: about $18M a year in recurring technology spend (3,227 × ~$5,600), before those volume-based online ordering fees.
Recurring technology works out to roughly 0.4% of an average restaurant's revenue. The $50,000 upgrade cap is the number to anchor on: it's the most HQ can make a franchisee spend on new or upgraded technology over the life of the agreement.
How much does Jersey Mike's spend on marketing, national vs. local?
Jersey Mike's franchisees pay 5% of gross sales into two HQ-run funds. At the FY2025 average unit revenue, that's about $68,000 per restaurant a year (est.). Royalty and ad-fund structure in general is in franchise royalty and ad fees.
| Bucket | Rate | Per restaurant (est.) | How it was spent in FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Media Fund | 4% | ~$54,700 | 87.2% media placement, 12.0% production |
| Corporate Advertising & Development Fund | 1% | ~$13,700 | 67.6% production, 31.7% administration |
| National total | 5% | ~$68,400 | HQ can raise the total to 6% on 90 days' notice |
| Regional co-op | up to 2% | up to ~$27,400 | Only where HQ forms a co-op, run on HQ's rules |
| Local marketing minimum | none established | n/a | n/a |
Across 3,227 restaurants, that's roughly $220M a year in national marketing (est.), and HQ has sole discretion over the creative, the media and where it runs. New restaurants also pay HQ $10,000 for a grand opening program that HQ plans and spends. In practice, 100% of required marketing money is directed by headquarters. Per restaurant, the marketing budget is about 12 times the recurring technology budget.
Does Jersey Mike's use a marketing agency, and can franchisees hire local ones?
Does Jersey Mike's use a marketing agency? The franchise agreement lets the corporate fund pay outside advertising agencies. The filing doesn't say whether one is on retainer.
Can franchisees hire a local agency? Yes, but only inside tight rules:
- Every ad and promotional piece needs HQ's written approval first, including digital, direct mail and signage. If HQ doesn't respond within 15 days, the piece counts as rejected.
- Franchisees can't open their own websites, domains or social accounts without approval, and HQ can require sign-off on individual posts.
- Franchisees can't market outside their designated area without approval, and that area is typically a 0.5 to 1 mile radius.
A local agency can run HQ-approved material within a small radius. For agencies and marketing vendors, the real buyers are HQ's marketing team and any regional co-ops.
Who owns the most Jersey Mike's restaurants?
Jersey Mike's is 99.2% franchised, and a lot of the system sits with multi-unit owners. From the operators named in the 2026 filing (legal entities merged where they're clearly the same owner):
- At least 34% of franchised restaurants (about 1,094) belong to owners of two or more.
- 24 owners run 10 or more restaurants, about 466 in total, or roughly 15% of the system.
- The three largest named owners: Nisamex LLC with 42 restaurants (Fontana, CA), Sizzling Subs LLC with 34 (Houston, TX) and Kenny Brothers Inc with 32 (San Diego, CA).
- Where multi-unit owners are based: California leads by a wide margin (about 245 restaurants), followed by Georgia, Texas, Arizona and Michigan.
For HQ-mandated categories, these owners won't sign, but they carry weight with HQ and through the National Advisory Council. For franchisee-choice categories, they're the account list. How to read an Item 20 owner list is in the franchisee list in Item 20 and franchise brand ownership data.
Where does Jersey Mike's HQ make money, and what does it mean for your pitch?
Jersey Mike's HQ earns from its suppliers. In FY2025 it received $19.4M in commissions and support payments from suppliers, including per-transaction payments on card processing and a share of fees on optional HR software. Its food-distribution affiliate received another $139.6M from suppliers. HQ also collects the monthly software fee and per-order online ordering fees.
If your product would replace a supplier that pays HQ, you're asking HQ to give up revenue. Go in with a clear answer on revenue share, or a clear case for why the savings to franchisees outweigh it. That disclosure mechanic is why so many vendor deals stall once legal gets involved: see why franchise vendor deals stall in legal review.
When to call Jersey Mike's, and who to call
Timing signals:
- About 250 net new restaurants in the last year, with roughly 9 months from signing to opening. That's a steady flow of new-restaurant buying decisions.
- Private-equity ownership, which usually means pressure on cost and efficiency.
- A new Chief Accounting Officer who joined in April 2026 from a payments company.
- 10-year franchise terms, which create waves of renewals.
Who to call at HQ, by topic (2026 FDD):
- Technology: the Chief Information Officer
- Marketing and loyalty: the SVP Marketing
- Payments and finance: the CFO and Chief Accounting Officer
- New suppliers: the Chief Development Officer
Area Directors are a layer between HQ and franchisees, and they can see store data in their territories. Filing signals that a brand is in a buying window are in the five franchise filing signals that mean a brand is ready to buy.
How to sell into Jersey Mike's: the play
- HQ categories (point of sale, payments, loyalty, online ordering, scheduling, gift cards, marketing): sell to HQ. Use the formal supplier approval process, and bring a revenue-share answer with you.
- Franchisee categories (phone systems, HR software): go straight to the 24 owners with 10+ restaurants, starting with the California cluster.
- Influence routes: the National Advisory Council, Area Directors and regional co-ops can move an HQ decision. Reps who only call the front door never find them.
See this buying map for any franchise brand
FranCloud's FDD database builds this view, covering who decides, what they spend and who owns the stores, for every active US franchise brand. Look up any brand in the franchise directory, read the full Jersey Mike's FDD breakdown, or learn which filing sections matter for sales in the learn hub. To check your own target account, use analyze.