Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 25

Firehouse Subs Co-Founder Chris Sorensen Dies at 65 After Building $1 Billion Chain

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 25

Firehouse Subs Co-Founder Chris Sorensen Dies at 65 After Building $1 Billion Chain

Q: Which mystery franchise deal did the brothers abandon right before turning their last $100 into a billion-dollar sandwich legacy?

It was a sandwich franchise deal, but the specific brand is not identified in the material provided. What the reporting does make clear is that in 1994 Chris and Robin Sorensen walked away from a meeting to buy into another sandwich franchise in Jacksonville. Unimpressed by the pitch, they decided in the parking lot to start their own shop instead, despite having less than $100 between them. That decision led to the opening of the first Firehouse Subs at Crown Point Plaza in Mandarin that October. The chain later expanded to more than 1,200 locations and was sold in 2021 to Restaurant Brands International in a $1 billion deal. So the key answer is that the brothers abandoned an unspecified sandwich franchise opportunity right before building Firehouse Subs into a billion-dollar brand.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 25

Chris Sorensen, who co-founded Firehouse Subs with his brother Robin in 1994, has died at 65, according to his obituary.
Less than $100 in the brothers' checking accounts helped launch the first Jacksonville shop, and the chain later sold to Restaurant Brands International for $1 billion in 2021.
Before entering the restaurant business, Sorensen worked as a firefighter and EMT in Jacksonville after an earlier stint as a professional guitarist.
More than 1,200 Firehouse Subs locations now operate, while the public-safety foundation he co-founded in 2005 has awarded over $118 million to 7,700 departments in the U.S. and Canada.