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S & S Restaurant & Deli history
S & S Restaurant & Deli company history timeline
In 1949, the Smith family was among the first to establish a cooperative buying and distribution program for a chain of food service establishments.
State Wholesale Food was created in 1949 as a buying and distribution center for the restaurants.
Wall Street Deli was founded in 1966 in Birmingham, Alabama, as Sandwich Chef, Inc., the entrepreneurial creation of Alan V. Kaufman.
To address these cosmetic problems and the more pernicious, fundamental flaws exposed by the oil crisis, Kaufman and his corporate lieutenant, Robert G. Barrow, a Sandwich Chef director since 1967, developed two new concepts.
The company was founded in 1978 with the opening of its Studio City, California, restaurant.
1982: Sandwich Chef chain peaks at 212 units.
In November 1984, Starkman founded a casual dining establishment called Starky’s, which combined a deli operation with a pizza parlor and a video game arcade at the top of The Beverly Center in Beverly Hills, California.
The first, introduced in July 1985, was R.C. Cooper Deli, a more upscale version of the Sandwich Chef concept.
Kaufman, who had joined his father's company in 1985, inherited 112 Wall Street Deli stores.
1985: Company opens its first R.C. Cooper Deli.
First Wall Street Deli Opens in 1987
The company’s first expansion from its Studio City roots came more than a decade later when, in July 1989, the company acquired a facility in Encino, California.
In 1989, there were 61 Sandwich Chef stores in operation, a total nearly matched by the fast-growing R.C. Cooper Deli, which had grown to 59 stores in four years.
The 18 new Wall Street Delis and the remaining R.C. Cooper Delis included within 1990's expansion plans were expected to penetrate two new markets, Atlanta and southern Florida, as well as strengthen the company's presence in its existing eight-city operating territory.
Two years (almost to the day) later, in July 1991, the company made its first foray outside the San Fernando Valley area, opening a location in Marina del Rey, California.
1992: Sandwich Chef, Inc. changes its name to Wall Street Deli, Inc.
A second high-profile location restaurant opened its doors three years later, in January 1994, when the company set up shop in West Hollywood, near Beverly Hills, across the street from the famous Beverly Center and Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
In January 1995, the company acquired a subsidiary called Pizza by the Pound Inc., owned by Isaac Starkman and one other partner, which operated a 2,300-square-foot pizza restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California, called Jerry’s Famous Pizza.
Adjoining, and operated as a part of, the West Hollywood restaurant is a private bar and cigar lounge called Guy’s Place, which opened at the end of September 1995.
Kaufman suffered a heart attack in early 1995, which forced him to relinquish some of his control over the day-to-day operation of the company.
The four original Jerry’s Famous Deli restaurants were joined by two new locations in California: in Old Pasadena (opened February 1996) and in Westwood (June 1996) within a matter of a few months.
Two more restaurants (Solley’s) were acquired as of June 1996, and one additional restaurant (Rascal House) was acquired in September 1996.
In August 1996, the company needed to raise more capital for future growth.
Proceeds from the successful initial public offering helped the company expand very quickly in 1996, as it more than doubled the number of restaurants it operated.
Closing the commissary system and turning to a vendor for distribution caused problems, as did the lackluster performance of particular stores, particularly the company's ten-store operation in Memphis, which was sold in late 1996.
Another Jerry’s Famous Deli restaurant was opened in August 1997.
In January 1998, the company announced the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary for the company’s Florida operations, planning expansion in that state.
Also in January of that year, the company acquired a lease on an 11,000-square-foot restaurant property in Boca Raton, Florida, where the company opened a new Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House in the summer of 1998 after renovations on the existing facility were completed.
At the end of the company's fiscal 1998 year in June 1998, Jeffrey V. Kaufman, Alan Kaufman's son, was named president and chief executive officer.
The Encino restaurant was owned and operated in 1998 through JFD-Encino, a limited partnership of which a wholly owned subsidiary of the company is an 80 percent general partner, with California-based Valley Deli Inc. making up the other 20 percent of the partnership.
Jerry’s Famous Deli, believing that the claims made against it were without merit, together with the company’s insurance carrier, contested the legal action, which was slated to go to trial in early 1998.
The results, announced in December 1999, marked the end of a troublesome decade for the company, spurring efforts to find a remedy.
The company reported a $201,228 loss for its fiscal 2000 first quarter and a 15.7 percent decline in revenues.
"Jerry’s Famous Deli Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/jerrys-famous-deli-inc
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S & S Restaurant & Deli competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melt Bar and Grilled | 2006 | $940,000 | 115 | - |
| Jewell Events Catering | 1967 | $8.7M | 100 | - |
| Detroit Yacht Club | 1868 | $10.0M | 125 | - |
| Brennan's of Houston | 1967 | $4.3M | 61 | 5 |
| Food For Thought | 2008 | $210,000 | 1 | 16 |
| Dinosaur Bar-B-Que | 1983 | $4.1M | 83 | 15 |
| Chefs International Inc | - | $28.0M | 500 | - |
| Wicomico Youth and Civic Center | 1927 | $5.0M | 30 | 1 |
| Flying Star Cafe | 1987 | $17.5M | 75 | - |
| Bon Appétit Management | 1987 | $100.0M | 3,422 | 17 |
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