The Chattanooga area will get at least six more Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches restaurants, since a father and son plan to open that many more of the "freaky fast" sub shops here, including in North Chattanooga, Ooltewah and Fort Oglethorpe.
Ben Frizzell III and his son, Aaron Frizzell, - who already own and operate a Jimmy John's on Hixson Pike - plan to open another Jimmy John's in two months inside a space at 330 Frazier Ave. For the past decade, the Frazier Avenue site on the North Shore has housed the Stone Cup Cafe. Ben Frizzell said he signed a 20-year lease for the space, which he's remodeling.
Next, the father-and-son team will open five more Jimmy John's stores in the Chattanooga area that Aaron Frizzell will manage.
That will bring their total to seven stores.
"I have one in Hixson, and I have signed up for an additional six stores," said Ben Frizzell, who's still looking for locations for all his new Jimmy John's. "I've been kind of scouring the area, looking for property. "
This will be the first Jimmy John's to deliver in North Chattanooga.
In order to make good on its promise of "freaky fast" delivery, the corporate chain sends out specialists to do test drives during rush hours, weekends and other busy times to see what each store's delivery area will be.
"It's based on how far you can drive in five minutes, under the worst traffic conditions," Frizzell said. "They'll present us on opening day with our delivery area. We won't know until the day we open."
Jimmy John's employees also get delivery orders on their way in four minutes, or "out the door in four," Frizzell said.
Parking is tight on Frazier Avenue, so Frizzell said his new Jimmy John's there will rent 10 parking spaces for its drivers from the Chattanooga Theatre Centre next to Coolidge Park.
Family construction business
Ben Frizzell III is a vice president at Frizzell Construction, a family-run construction company headquartered in Bristol, Tenn., with offices in Mt. Holly, N.C., and Atlanta. It does a variety of industrial, hotel, commercial, office, institutional and restaurant construction, including dozens of Wendy's and Long John Silver's that the company built for others and Arby's fast-food restaurants, about 30 of which Frizzell Construction owns.
"We're into a little bit of everything. The latest thing is Jimmy John's," said Frizzell, who has lived in Chattanooga for seven years. He first came here to oversee work as Frizzell Construction built a Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express in Ooltewah.
"I moved here to work on opening those, and I liked Chattanooga so much, we decided to stay," Frizzell said. "We still build around here. We took over a La Quinta [Inn & Suites] in Cleveland that the contractor was not doing so well on."
Stone Cup Cafe moved down the street about six months ago to 208 Frazier Ave., a space that formerly housed a Subway sandwich shop, and Subway moved into a space next door to that.
"I think [Jimmy John's] will do very well," said Bob McKenzie, a longtime Chattanooga developer who in 2005 built and now manages Frazier Place, the 30-unit apartment building with first-floor retail that includes the space Jimmy John's is moving into.
McKenzie said Stone Cup had been at Frazier Place since it opened.
After the Frizzells add six Jimmy John's, it will bring Chattanooga's total to nine. Three Jimmy John's currently operate here, all of which are owned by different franchisees: One in Hixson is owned by the Frizzells, one on Igou Gap Road is owned by Chattanooga-based JAK Foods Inc., and one downtown on Market Street is owned by Hank Pemble.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu @timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.