Penn Station restaurants expanding
Penn Station CEO Jeff Osterfeld found inspiration in the Philly cheesesteak when he opened his first restaurant in 1985. Now he's looking for inspiration on the other side of the state.
The Cincinnati-based franchisor is planning to grow its Pittsburgh footprint in the next three years by tripling it local restaurants from six to 18.
“The people of Pittsburgh have responded very favorably to our stores. We know that the demand is there to support more,” said Greg Goddard, director of development and franchising.
Penn Station, which serves grilled and cold subs, fresh-cut fries and lemonade, has restaurants in six Western Pennsylvania locations — Monroeville, Shadyside, Liberty Avenue, Bridgeville, Gibsonia and Washington.
The first one, the Shadyside store, opened in 2007. The six stores are split between two franchisees, including a couple from Charleston, W.Va.
“We've opened six stores (in Greater Pittsburgh) in 11 years, so we've been very pleased with their performance and the customer response,” Goddard said.
The privately-held company wants to build 12 more in the area by 2021, with Westmoreland County communities such as New Kensington, Greensburg, Jeannette and Delmont under consideration.
Such an expansion would create 240 new jobs and represent a $5 million investment in the Greater Pittsburgh area, Goddard said. Each store costs on average $410,000 to build and employs 20 people.
“What we've seen out of the existing six stores, we're very pleased with, and it's a great nucleus to build around,” he said. “We think 12 is going to be a very conservative number.”
Eighteen stores would put Pittsburgh among the top 10 markets for Penn Station, which currently has 315 restaurants in 15 states, he said.
By far, Cincinnati has the most Penn Station franchises – 47 – of any other big city. Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, both have 15, Cleveland has 23, Indianapolis has 30 and Louisville has 23.
Penn Station got its start in Cincinnati in 1985, when Osterfeld, a Miami University (Ohio) graduate, opened a restaurant in the downtown area. The original menu had four sandwiches, including the grilled cheesesteak.
Despite the proliferation of subway shops, Penn Station believes there is capacity for growth in Pittsburgh and is looking for franchisees.
“There's not a glaring lack of sub restaurants anywhere anymore. What we know to be true in Pittsburgh and elsewhere is we're one of the few sub shops that does fresh-grilled sub sandwiches. We have fresh-cut fries that are cut in-house – although we don't put them on the sandwich,” Goddard said.
More information about franchising and franchisee requirements can be found at www.penn-station.com/franchise .
Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shuba_trib.
