Content area
Full Text
They say the military can make a man where a boy once stood. In the case of Submarina Inc.'s Jeff Warfield, they were right.
A veteran, Warfield is using skills he picked up as a Navy flight engineer to help lead his family's San Marcos-based retail sandwich chain into battle - a battle for national dollars.
The 29-year-old president and chief executive officer of Submarina announced plans this month to open as many as 110 new Submarina locations in the Houston area within the next 10 years.
"A lot of people thought I was nuts," Warfield said. "I could have easily settled down with my current units and been happy, lived a very comfortable life here in San Diego, but I truly believe we can be so much more."
Submarina has 51 locations in San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties, and is $16 million in revenues this year.
In addition to Texas, Warfield said that he is close to reaching area development deals in Tucson, Ariz.; St. George, Utah; and Tampa Bay, Fla.
Warfield's goal is to compete nationally against Subway Restaurants and Quiznos Sub - the Nos. 1 and 2 franchises, according to Entrepreneur Magazine.
The Irvine-based publisher reports that Subway, founded in 1965, has nearly 20,000 U.S. franchises, while Quiznos, founded in 1981, has 3,800-plus.
Warfield's secret strategy: getting in bed with the enemy, sort of.
He signed a...