Bryant Keil’s franchise agreement with Potbelly tasks him with developing 15 new locations across the state of Maryland over the next eight years.
It shouldn’t be too difficult for Keil, who opened well over 200 Potbelly sandwich shops as founder and CEO of the brand. When Keil retired from the CEO position in 2008, the company had grown from a single location in Chicago to 250 nationwide.
Now, Keil is back with Potbelly in a new capacity, partnering with his son Hampden to become owners of 27 locations in total. The pair are taking over 12 existing units that are being refranchised and opening 15 new stores.
“I’ve opened an awful lot of Potbelly restaurants from the ground up,” Keil said. “I’ve been through the whole process of site selection, design and construction, and now they’re even better at how they operate the development side.”
Keil said he had discussions with Potbelly CEO Bob Wright about the progress made at the brand in recent years, and it was those conversations that motivated him to become a franchisee.
“I think he’s doing such a good job with the business,” Keil said. “He’s making sure the food is great and the staff is great, and he’s being smart about implementing technology into the operations. We talked and he asked, ‘How can we get you back involved in this?’”
Potbelly Founder, former CEO and franchisee Bryant Keil
The way back ended up being through franchising, with an agreement getting signed in July. It’s not the first time Keil’s fascination with Potbelly led him on a business venture, either.
The first Potbelly opened in 1977 as an antique shop in Chicago. To attract more customers to the store, named after a potbelly oven in the shop, the owner began selling sandwiches. It worked, and the sandwiches ended up being the primary reason people would visit the store.
One of those people was Keil, who became a regular customer before purchasing the shop in 1996. Since leaving the brand in 2008, Potbelly continued to grow from 250 stores to nearly 440. Of those restaurants, just 45 of them are franchised.
It’s something the brand is now working to change. Potbelly has a goal of reaching 2,200 units over the next 10 years, with 85 percent of them being franchised. To do so, the brand launched an initiative last year to refranchise many of its units.
Related: New York Deal Marks Beginning of Potbelly’s Refranchising Effort
Keil said the growth and refranchising efforts have made him proud of how far the brand has come since the 1990s.
“It was just one little shop when I bought the first location,” Keil said. “They’re doing things now that I never would have imagined. They’re being very tech-forward in the way they’re doing things. Ordering, payroll and accounting is all integrated in our system. So, instead of spending your time on the bookkeeping side, you can put more of your focus on the customer experience and operating the business. They’re ahead of the curve.”
The investment range to open a Potbelly is between $594,950 and $899,700.