Mr. Pickle’s Sandwich Shop, a beloved and craveworthy mom-and-pop family of quick-service restaurants in northern California, has officially moved its headquarters to Scottsdale, Ariz., with plans to open locations across Arizona, California and nationwide over the next five years.
“Since 1995, Mr. Pickle’s has been a premier full service-sandwich shop specializing in innovative sandwiches, salads and catering,” says Mike Nelson, chief executive officer and long-time customer who purchased the brand in 2020 when founders/owners Frank and Michele Fagundes decided to retire. “During its first three decades, thanks to its company culture, incredible recipes, and all its fans, the brand grew from one to 56 locations across northern California. We look forward to growing nationwide, perhaps even beyond.”
The Arizona headquarters is located 9332 Raintree Suite #120 Scottsdale AZ 85260. Nelson as well as president and fellow restaurant veteran Dean Johnson will work from that locale while the team in already in place in northern California will continue working virtually from home and the California franchisee support center, which is located at 6960 Destiny Drive Suite 117 Rocklin California 95677.
“The brand is unique in that it doesn’t turn to big-box vendors for its core ingredients, instead partnering with artisan bakers, regional farms and ranches to source its products, making every item unique to us,” says Nelson, who spent the past year bringing the business into the digital age and investing in technology that will propel the brand forward nationwide. “You will not see six-inch and footlong options from us, more specialty breads than uniform options.”
In addition to launching the Scottsdale headquarters, Nelson – a veteran of the restaurant business with more than 30 years of experience as an owner and operator of Wingstop, Subway Restaurants, and Carl’s Jr. franchises nationwide – will open six Mr. Pickles locations across the Valley over the next 18 months in Scottsdale, Chandler, Laveen, Surprise and Queen Creek.
Once open, both Scottsdale locations will also serve as training restaurants when key team members and franchisees sign on in coming months.
Each new location will feature all the most popular hot and cold sandwiches, notably the Mr. Pickle, which is chicken breast, bacon, Monterey jack, avocado and the works as it relates to veggies; the Santa Maria Tri-Tip, which is actual tri-tip sourced from the famed Santa Maria region topped with specialty barbeque sauce and the works; and Big Jake, a turkey sandwich with cream cheese, avocado and the works. The brand now also has two new sandwiches of note. The first is Listen Linda, named after Nelson’s wife of 36 years. The second, honoring Johnson’s wife, is the Della’s Deli.
Mr. Pickle’s will continue to its close-knit relationships with vendors as it grows, notably Frito-Lay, Dirty Chip, Pepsi, Foster Farms, Max’s Artisan Breads, Best Foods, and Hidden Valley.
A leader in online ordering technology, Mr. Pickle’s partners with DoorDash and invested in Paytronix Systems, Inc., the most advanced digital guest experience platform, in the past year. Through the partnership Mr. Pickle’s uses the full Paytronix Platform for its loyalty, order, delivery, mobile and gift system.
Since announcing its franchise plans, Mr. Pickles has already signed its first new franchisee in Hungry Hospitality. Headquartered in San Jose, Hungry Hospitality purchased the brand’s Fresno location and will open 15 to 20 locations across Los Angeles and the Fresno/Bakersfield area in the next seven years.
“And yes, we do have an actual Mr. Pickle – in our logo, as a character and even on merch available for sale. We are out to show the world that the brand can be a very big dill,” says Nelson.
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