Summertime barbecues are meant for relaxation by the pool with family and friends. Countless Americans miss out on the fun because they are stuck minding the grill. Luckily, Blimpie has the perfect solution for your summertime party woes; Blimpie’s new Bigger, Better BBQ sandwiches offer customers delicious, bold barbecue flavor without the hassle of having to grill it themselves.

Missing Out On Family Time

When warm weather rolls around, the first thing that comes to mind is a summertime cookout. Kids splashing in the pool, parents relaxing with a book or refreshing drink in hand – and of course, the “grill-master” – the guy or gal who is pressured to spend the day chained to the grill. Of course, any open flame is dangerous so grills must be constantly monitored; meaning the grill master doesn’t get a chance to relax and take part in the family fun. Small children have to be kept away from the grill and often the heat and smoke will drive guests away from the grill and toward the pool or picnic area, effectively leaving the grill-master to party alone…and that’s no fun!

If missing out on family time isn’t enough of a reason to avoid the hassle of barbecuing the old-fashion way, consider these:

• Safety – No lit grill means no fire to worry about! Small children may not understand the dangers associated with a lit grill; not to mention accidents happen. It takes just a moment for a grill to tip over and light the house or yard on fire. Skip the worry and keep your family safer by opting for a Blimpie BBQ delivery!
• Cost Effective – In order to barbecue at home, you need a grill (and even small ones can be quite costly), as well as charcoal or wood chips and lighter fluid, grill tools, grill cleaner and more. All those little items can add up to a very expensive summer cookout and we haven’t even taken the food itself into consideration. Blimpie’s prices are always reasonable.
• Convenience – Don’t worry about forgetting an ingredient or the hassle of setting up the food – just pick up a few great-tasting subs and you’ll be on your way!
• Food Quality Assurance –Get ready for the tastiest barbecue of the summer; Blimpie’s new Bigger, Better BBQ sandwiches are prepared to perfection every time. You can rest easy knowing your guests will enjoy the food at your summer party.
• No Pressure – Don’t spend your party fretting about the food or the food preparation. Let Blimpie® take care of making the food while you focus on enjoying your party.
• Easy Cleanup – By grabbing some barbecue sandwiches from your local Blimpie, cleanup is a breeze; there is no need to spend hours scraping and cleaning that crusty grill.

So, let’s give the grill-masters a break this summer with Blimpie’s new and delicious Bigger, Better BBQ subs – The Spicy Piggy, The Twisted Piggy and the BBQ Chick. 

The Spicy Piggy has bacon ranch slaw, cheddar cheese, Sriracha glaze and pulled pork served on a delicious white sub roll.

The Twisted Piggy features cheddar cheese, Sweet Baby Ray’s® sauce and pulled pork on a pretzel roll.

The BBQ Chick is served on ciabatta bread and has crispy onions, bacon ranch slaw, Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce and, of course, chicken.

Blimpie’s Bigger, Better BBQ subs are now available in locations across the country – pick up lunch for your cookout today!

America’s Sub Shop Now Offering Up Three Limited-Time Only BBQ Subs

Scottsdale, Ariz. (June 7, 2016) – Blimpie® (www.Blimpie.com), the iconic American sandwich chain, has recently announced the creation of new Bigger, Better BBQ sandwiches featuring three bold and flavorful subs: The Spicy Piggy, The Twisted Piggy and The BBQ Chick. As part of the limited-time Bigger, Better BBQ offer, which begins on June 6, Blimpie customers can try Sriracha Glaze and Sweet Baby Ray’s® BBQ Sauce on the new subs or any of their longtime favorites.

“All Blimpie fans will find something to love about the Bigger, Better BBQ promotion,” said Steve Evans, Blimpie’s vice president of marketing. “The Spicy Piggy packs a powerful punch for those who can take the heat. The Twisted Piggy presents a tasty new take on our fanfavorite pretzel bread. And the BBQ Chick offers a sweet alternative to those who prefer chicken to pork. We’re excited to head into summer with a roster of BBQ subs perfectly suited for warm weather and holiday get-togethers.”

The ingredients for these savory new BBQ subs are as follows:

• The Spicy Piggy: Bacon Ranch Slaw, Cheddar Cheese, Sriracha Glaze and Pulled Pork on a White Sub Roll.
• The Twisted Piggy: Cheddar Cheese, Sweet Baby Rays Sauce and Pulled Pork on a Pretzel Roll.
• The BBQ Chick: Crispy Onions, Bacon Ranch Slaw, Sweet Baby Rays Sauce and Chicken on Ciabatta Bread.

Blimpie’s Bigger, Better BBQ sandwiches are timed to release during the prime BBQ season… SUMMER! The Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association reports two of the three most popular BBQ-based holidays are the summertime staples of Independence Day (71 percent) and Labor Day (55 percent). Blimpie aims to make life easier for grill masters and party hosts this summer by offering up delicious BBQ-infused menu options and serving as the catering partner for any holiday get-together or office party.

“Blimpie franchisees across the country are ready and willing to bring the BBQ to the party this summer season,” said Evans. “We look forward to delivering bold BBQ flavors directly to our customers so they can enjoy more of their favorite summer activities with those they love most rather than spending too much time in front of the grill.” To learn more about Blimpie and its Bigger, Better BBQ promotion, please visit, www.Blimpie.com.

Kahala Brands is proud to announce that Blimpie, America’s Sub Shop, was honored as a top franchise in the 2016 Franchise 500 list released earlier this year. Blimpie was one of nearly 1,000 companies who made the first cut and were fully evaluated for the Franchise 500 list; eventually earning the #304 spot.

All companies considered for the Franchise 500 list must supply a full Franchise Disclosure Document and go through a full vetting process. The most important factors considered by Entrepreneur’s team of judges include: financial strength, growth rate, and size of system. Additionally, years in business, length of time in franchising, start-up costs, litigation, percentage of terminations, and financing options for franchise prospects are also considered.

The entire Blimpie team is thrilled to be honored by such a prestigious and well-respected annual report of the top franchises in the country. To review the full Entrepreneur Franchise 500 report and learn more about what makes Blimpie the top subs franchise on the market and one of the top food franchises to own, click here.

In today’s digital world, it can be challenging to engage customers across multiple generations. However, two of the top marketing executives from Blimpie’s parent company, Kahala Brands, recently sat down with us to provide some valuable insight into how Blimpie has stepped up to best serve all customers, young and old, in today’s modern world. Keep reading as Steve Evans, Blimpie’s VP of Market, and Mandy Andrews, Blimpie’s Director of Marketing, share some of the secret sauce behind Blimpie’s powerful marketing and branding efforts.

Q: How can franchisees use social media and online tools to engage with millennials and inspire them to come into our store?

Mandy Andrews: One of our recent initiatives was the “Combo Craze.” This is the second year we’ve done it; we decided we needed to continue the “Combo Craze” because it was so successful the first year. We had amazing feedback from our customers and our franchisees.

It was originally created because we wanted to close that circle of the in-store experience and the digital social media experience. The great thing about the “Combo Craze” is it increases sales in the store by creating combo sales with every order. But also, there is a game you can play to enter to win amazing prizes – like a trip to New York City or even $1000. If you come to the store, there is a scratch off card you can get that gives you extra turns for our digital game. So that inspires your everyday customer to go onto our digital platform to participate in a contest. And most importantly, it’s a contest where the more they visit the website and interact with the brand, the more opportunities they get to win.

Q: What are you doing in the digital space?

Steve Evans: We are working to combine fun with functional. We’re trying to evolve our email club and do a lot of social listening. We’re basically trying to craft the fun promotions we provide our customers based on our community – almost like a large focus group.

Other digitally-based projects include “Blimpie Run,” which is a fun little game on our app where you can win prizes based on your gaming performance. We are also testing online ordering; we’re hoping to roll that out nationwide in early 2017. And finally, we’ve launched our new website, designed specifically for mobile use. We’ve found that mobile layout/functionality is very important for most of our customers because they are always on the go.

Q: You mentioned social listening is something Blimpie is pursuing – can you give a specific example of how you’re doing that?

SE: We’ve had a 40 percent growth in our email club as a direct result of the “Combo Craze.” Plus, we’re having great redemption on coupons we’ve sent out via our email club. We’ve also seen tremendous growth across our social media platforms as more and more customers are interacting with us – we really value their feedback!

Q: What have you provided to your franchisees to help drive social media traffic?

MA: We obviously provide plenty of in-store signs and advertisements with our social media tags on them, but our latest push has been through scratch off cards. If you get a combo, you receive a scratch off which gives you the website, the code and up to 20 more chances to win various prizes.

SE: Our overall goal is for our customers to be able to engage with the brand in a multitude of ways that are most conducive to their time, schedule and comfort level. So we provide our franchisees with a wide variety of in-store communication/marketing tools that allow our customers to consistently engage with us on and offline.

Q: How do you help your local stores execute these national campaigns?
SE: Our goal with our franchisees is to provide our them with every possible tool they need to be successful in each campaign. We literally provide everything they need in a contained kit that is designed for each section of the store. The messaging and design will be different from the front of the store to the cashier. The kit even comes with a schematic so each local store can execute the promotion properly. We want every customer to have the same experience at each store across the brand.

Q: It’s pretty well known that a lot of online traffic comes from the younger generation, the millennials. Have you seen that your digital programs appeal to an older demographic as well?

SE: While most of our online demographic does skew younger, our email club is a little broader than, say, our app downloads or social media platforms. The email club is a good way to reach out across generations, but even so, we still do a wide range of advertising, especially through traditional avenues.

We offer healthy options, which is important to the older demographic. We’ve also found the older folks, who have been around since we opened, continue to visit us because we stay true to our roots. We bake bread fresh, we slice meat in store and have quality control measures in place to keep our produce as fresh as possible. Those older, loyal customers see that those roots are important to us and keep coming back because we haven’t lost what made us great to start with. We’re evolving the brand to stay appealing to the newer consumer, but we stay true to our core value so that the folks who have loved us since 1964 still love us today.

Tell me a little bit about some new product introductions or some interesting prospects on the horizon.

SE: One of my favorites is the Hoboken Hero. It refers to our roots – the first Blimpie location was in Hoboken and in that region a sub sandwich is often referred to as a Hero. The build on that sandwich is pretty close to the style of the Italian sandwiches that were served back when we opened. We brought that back at first as a nod to our history, but it was so successful that we have now brought it back numerous times as a limited time offering. Now, we are excited to say that it will be featured on our new menu board that we’re rolling out in 2017.

We’re constantly testing out new products and evolving, but we always want to listen to our customers. If a product does exceptionally well, we’re more than willing to bring it on permanently.

What do we have coming up this summer that the fans and customers can get excited about?

MA: I’m really excited about “The Blimp.” It’s a very hardy sandwich that features several types of protein and just about every topping we offer. It was really successful when we tried it out in late 2015 and early 2016; now we are so excited to bring it back this summer and soon we’ll add it to our permanent menu as well.

We’ll also have the “Bigger Better BBQ” promotion rolling out in June. We’ll feature three different barbecue sandwiches. The first one is the “Spicy Pig” which is pulled pork glazed with Sriracha, topped with cheddar cheese and a bacon ranch coleslaw. The next one is the “Twisted Pig,” which is really interesting. It uses the pulled pork again, but this time we top it with our famous pretzel bread. The last sandwich is a barbecue chicken, crunchy onion sandwich called our “Barbecue Chick.” We can’t wait to feature a new protein and introduce a fun new flavor for summertime.

Q: How does the Kahala Brands team develop those delicious sandwiches?

SE: We have a lead chef, Joe O’Brien, who does some pretty amazing things in the test kitchen. He’s in the kitchen all day long building and developing delicious sandwiches; but, he’s also tapped into a network of culinary counterparts. He has connections with the absolute best suppliers in the business. He carefully tracks menu trends and makes sure that Blimpie is always in the running.

When he feels he has a product that would be a good fit for Blimpie, he brings it to the brand team. He works with them to figure out if this item would be a good idea for a promotional test run. After it makes it through that stage, we bring it to our advisory board which is made up a few of our franchisees. We meet with them three times a year at our offices and discuss our big brand initiatives and prospective new rollouts.

MA: And on occasion we’re able to test new products in test markets with some of these franchisees to see how the product performs.

Q: From a marketing perspective, do you have advice for a franchisee looking at potential franchise organizations?

MA: Be sure that the franchise has resources to help franchisees excel in terms of marketing. At any of the Kahala brands, there is an abundance of help at the franchisee’s fingertips. We provide flyers and ready-made materials, but we also have marketing managers that act as an additional resource. We have found that the most successful franchisees are the ones that take full advantage of all Kahala Brands has to offer.

In this month’s Blimpie Subs Franchise Show podcast, Kahala Brands VP of Marketing, Steve Evans, and Director of Marketing, Mandy Andrews, join the show to discuss how Kahala Brands works hand-in-hand with dozens of Blimpie Area Developers and hundreds of Blimpie franchisees to create and execute powerful marketing programs that elevate brand awareness and increase in-store traffic. Listen in as Evans and Andrews share specific examples of hard-hitting, multi-tiered marketing campaigns their team has rolled out to inspire millennials and baby boomers alike to engage with the Blimpie brand online and become/remain loyal customers!

We are excited to announce that The Fiscal Times has named Blimpie as one of the 25 Best Fast Food Restaurants in 2016. Not only did we make the list, but Blimpie was the top-rated sub sandwich restaurant and earned the highest marks for value out of the 16 sandwich shops considered. The Fiscal Times also made a point to praise our food quality and noted that we received top marks in the “likelihood to recommend” category. We are thrilled with our rankings across the board and appreciate the work put in by our franchisees, area developers, and corporate executives that made this achievement possible.

To review The Fiscal Times report in its entirety and to learn more about what makes Blimpie the #1 subs franchise on the market and one of the best quick service restaurant franchises to own, click here.

Bobby Calvillo, our Blimpie owner based in Weslaco, TX, a town just outside of San Antonio, is anything but your typical business owner. As The Executive Director of Affordable Homes of South Texas, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low-income families find, build and afford homes, Calvillo launched his Blimpie location to generate increased funds for the non-profit. in doing so, Bobby Calavillo’s Blimpie location operates as a social enterprise venture – selling great tasting subs for a higher purpose, or, as Calvillo and his team say, “Great food for a great cause!” Read on to learn more about this unique business model and what he and his team have done to quickly make his Blimpie location a go-to favorite in the Weslaco community.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your professional background and what has inspired you?

Calvillo: I’ve had basically two jobs in my professional career. One was as a banker, and the second, the one I currently hold, is as the executive director of Affordable Homes of South Texas. Both are somewhat related, because my role is still in financing. Affordable Homes of South Texas is a 501c3 nonprofit, and we are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, so we’ve been around a long time. We are a subdivision developer, a builder and a mortgage company exclusively for low-income families in the South Texas area. Low-income families who can’t afford a home through the private market come to us, and we build them a house, make them a loan, and they pay it over the course of 30 years. To put it into perspective, we have total assets of about $80 million, our loan portfolio is about $50 million, we employ about 70-80 people, and we have about 300 families a month coming to us for assistance.

Q: That’s wonderful. And was there anything that drew you to Blimpie, before the franchise was even an idea in your head?

Calvillo: About three years ago, we owned the building that our office was in, and we had some tenants. They decided to move out, and when I visited the location to see about renting it to another set of tenants, I identified that there was a nursing school down the road from our office. As I was leaving, there was this mass exodus of students going to lunch. There were no healthy options for lunch in the area, so I followed a few of them to find out where they would go to eat. They wound up going to a sandwich shop down the road. I asked a bunch of them if it would be better for them if we opened a sub shop closer to them, and it was an enthusiastic yes. That’s where we got the idea, and three years later, those nursing students remain the core of our customer base.

Q: You obviously have your hands full running a nonprofit. Can you tell us what fueled your decision to open a business, and how you approached the social enterprise set-up?

Calvillo: Around the same time that we looked at the Blimpie franchise, we had created a couple of other entities with the social enterprise idea in mind. For example, we have a construction company that served families who were just above the “low-income” threshold. So in addition to helping low-income families, we are a for-profit mortgage company and construction company as well – offering lower rates to help more families afford a home. And when we talked to Blimpie about setting up a social enterprise franchise, it was a little different because we didn’t already have the resources to make subs. But this additional revenue stream really helps supplement the dwindling federal grants that we depend on.

Q: Why Blimpie, and why the franchise model?

Calvillo: At first, I didn’t know anything about running a quick-service restaurant other than the financing part that I did during my banking days. So my first reaction was thinking that there was no way it would work. But fortunately for us, the franchise structure provided that support, so we didn’t need to know all of the details going into it. Instead, we could learn it along the way. During my initial research, I contacted three restaurants. I knew I wanted a sandwich shop, I just didn’t know which one. When I called Subway, they sent me to an 800-number, I got transferred a few times, and when I mentioned I worked for a nonprofit, the conversation shut down. I ruled them out after that experience. Jimmy Johns wasn’t ready to move this far south, so they were a no-go as well. They just didn’t support the idea very well. But it was different with Blimpie from the first conversation. My area developer contacted me immediately, was very supportive, visited the area, and worked with me to establish the structure we would need. We took our time with the process, because we both needed to do our due diligence, but I had a clear picture the whole way of what a partnership with Blimpie would look like. – I couldn’t be happier.

Q: You said your area developer played a really active role in helping you set up. Can you tell us more about what impact an area developer can have?

Calvillo: I think the difference was obvious from the very first phone call with Alan Crites. As soon as I was ready to have him visit, he was here, suggesting things we could do to build our processes and develop the market. And when we were doing our grand opening, he was downtown handing out flyers and coupons. It was like he worked for me! I think that’s the exact sort of thing I needed, because I had so many questions on how to get everything off the ground.

Q: The social aspect of your business obviously makes it very unique. Is your role in the community something you use to relate to your customers?

Calvillo: Absolutely, and I think that’s a big draw for customers. This isn’t a big town, so everybody kind of knows everybody, and everyone knows who we are and what we do. The very first thing we did when we began our marketing effort was to come up with a tagline. In all of our promotional materials the tagline is “Great food for a great cause.” That appears on everything, and it builds up our marketing, because people know that the profits we make go to helping our customers’ neighbors. We also have posters and table toppers in our store advertising the services we offer to low income families. For example, a lot of people didn’t realize we offered help on income taxes for low-income families, and our posters definitely increased the number of people we saw for those services. We’re able to cross-sell, so to speak.

Q: How well does this funding model work for your nonprofit? Does it actually cover the void of falling grant awards?

Calvillo: We’re still pretty early in the process, so it’ll take a couple more years to see the $900,000 that we’ve lost in grants. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we’re getting there. We definitely have the potential to make up that lost revenue. What this model does more effectively is that it shows our funders and private donors that we are doing everything we can to do more in the community. I think that makes a compelling case to donors who are evaluating us compared to other nonprofit organizations they could donate to.

Q: I think our readers would be interested to know a bit more about the emotional side of what you do. What do you guys accomplish, how many people are you able to help?

Calvillo: We’re doing probably 100-120 homes a year. As I mentioned, there are about 300 families that apply with us each month. The impact depends on each family. But let me give you an example of a crisis that occurred and how we were able to help. About a year ago, there was a huge storm that came into town and flooded all over the place. This happened on a Saturday, and the Monday after, we were getting phone calls all over the place. So we created a fund to help families to repair their homes, and provide them with tarps for their roofs, and equipment to help them mop the floors and pull up the carpets. We were able to provide $300 emergency grants to families, before FEMA was able to come in and help with permanent solutions. Through Blimpie, we were able to get the word out that not only were there funds available, but you could also donate if you had the means. We were able to design a cup that had our logo on it, and we sold it for $2, refills were 25 cents, and all of the profits from that went directly to that disaster fund. This has created an ongoing donation collection tool, plus it’s great to encourage people to come see us more often.

Q: There are so many more benefits to owning the store than just the profits that fund what you do. Fundraising, grant-writing, advertising your services, etc. If I’m looking at a franchise to fund a social enterprise, is this a path that you would recommend for others, regardless of whether they have a tight relationship with a nonprofit?

Calvillo: It would have to be a unique set-up for them. Since we own the franchise to fund the nonprofit, it essentially also runs the nonprofit. Other friends of mine in the nonprofit space have expressed an interest in doing this kind of thing. But for for-profit companies, they can still do this kind of thing. An example is donation nights, which allow a percentage of sales from a certain period of time to go to an organization. This still makes an impact.

Q: What other advice or quick-hitting tips do you have for someone looking into franchising?

Calvillo: I think one of the things I’ve learned is as much as you think you know about things, you really don’t know anything. With our organization, we were fortunate enough to have an in-house CPA, in-house marketer, in-house technology associate, but there were still several things that we had to learn. If there’s anything you don’t know, when you go into business you have to work to find out. For us, following the students into the other local sandwich shop was just the beginning. You have to do your research or you won’t know what you’re getting into.

Q: Why is now the right time to buy into Blimpie Subs, the freshly-sliced franchise?

Calvillo: I think right off the bat, Blimpie was really supportive and always willing to do what we needed to do to get things done. They’re just the right size for folks that are looking to start out, because they weren’t so big that the bureaucracy took over, but they weren’t by any means an unknown brand. Their longevity and their franchisee support inspire confidence and set you up for success before you even sign the contracts.

In this month’s Blimpie Subs Franchise Show podcast, Bobby Calvillo, a Weslaco, TX based franchise owner, joins the show to dig deep into the concept of Social Enterprise – going into business for the sole purpose of community service. Listen in as Calvillo shares why Blimpie was the perfect fit for him and how he’s using his Blimpie location to generate necessary funds for Affordable Homes of South Texas (AHSTI) – the non-profit organization he’s responsible for running.

Blimpie is thrilled to announce that the brand was featured as the top sandwich chain and ranked #14 among all QSR chains in Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2016 Consumer Picks Report released in early April. The annual Consumer Picks Report, a comprehensive look at customer preference and restaurant brand strength, asks survey respondents to rate their favorite good brands on 10 attributes, including Food Quality, Cleanliness, Service and Atmosphere. We are proud to achieve this honor and are thankful that our franchisees, area developers, and corporate executives are being rewarded for the work they do each day to make Blimpie a leading food franchise concept.

To review the full Consumer Picks report and learn more about what makes Blimpie the #1 subs franchise on the market and one of the best fast food franchises to own, click here.

“Match-And-Win” Game Revealed By America’s Sub Shop Offers Fans A Chance To Win A Trip To New York City

Scottsdale, Ariz. (April 4, 2016) – Blimpie® (www.Blimpie.com) recently announced their Combo Craze Promotion, an online “match-and-win” game hosted on the Blimpie website that gives loyal fans a chance to win a grand prize trip for two to New York City and over $9,000 in cash and instant win prizes. The promotion will begin on April 4 and run through June 5 of this year.

To play the Combo Craze, fans can visit www.Blimpie.com/play for a chance to win. Each player clicks on a circle, making a match and earning entries into one of four prize categories. The more a contestant plays, the greater their chances are to win!

Fans will play Blimpie Combo Craze for a chance to win the Grand Prize of a trip for two to New York City. Three First Prize winners will receive $1000 cash, five Second Prize winners will win $500 cash and ten Third Prize winners will win free subs for a year! Contestants also have a chance to win $5 Blimpie gift cards and BOGO Sub coupons.

Players can earn tokens to play for a chance to win valuable prizes several ways on the Blimpie website. Customers will receive 10 tokens for registering onto the site, and another 3 tokens each day they log in to play the game. Blimpie is also providing additional opportunities for their fans to play the game and increase their chances of winning more prizes.

Here are some other ways contestants can earn more spins:

• 15 tokens – Visit a Blimpie location and purchase a sub combo. Customers will receive a scratch card that they can use to earn 15 tokens. Each time they enter a code their tokens will increase by 2 additional tokens.
• 10 tokens – Join the Blimpie e-club to receive the latest news and exclusive offers.
• 10 tokens – Share the promotion socially and refer to a friend who registers.
• 5 tokens – Follow Blimpie on Twitter (@BlimpieSubShop) or Instagram (@blimpie)
• 5 tokens – Enter codes found on Blimpie’s official Twitter handle (@BlimpieSubShop), Facebook page (www.facebook.com/blimpie) and Instagram (@blimpie).

Steve Evans, VP of Marketing for Blimpie, said the promotion will help the brand drive significant online engagement with its customers and allow them to thank their loyal fans by giving away dozens of valuable prizes.“The Blimpie Combo Craze is the latest in a string of fanfocused promotions we are offering to reward our valued customers,” said Evans. “The more often people play, the greater their chances are of winning one of our great prizes. We expect this promotion to create a lot of fun for our fansover the next two months.”

To learn more about Blimpie, please visit www.Blimpie.com.