THURSDAY November 18, 2021
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BEHIND THE FIREHOUSE JACKSONVILLESUBS
Daily Record $1 BILLION DEAL Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
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Special to the Daily Record
Brothers Robin, left, and Chris Sorensen, co-founders of Firehouse Subs, at the employee meeting Nov. 15 when the company’s pending $1 billion sale to Canada-based Restaurant Brands International Inc. was announced.
The founders of the Jacksonville chain tell the story of how they sold their company and what the future holds.
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
F
irehouse Subs started with the sale of two hot dogs. It was opening day Oct. 10, 1994, at the Jacksonvillebased sub shop’s San Jose Boulevard slice of strip-mall space in Mandarin. Firehouse Subs was the dream of firefighter brothers Robin and Chris Sorensen.
Chris was 34 and Robin was 26. Sales for that store’s first 12 months totaled $347,000. What a difference 27 years can make. “We will do close to $1.1 billion in revenue this year,” said Robin Sorensen on Nov. 15. That’s with 1,206 restaurants in 46 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. The biggest achievement is expected in a month or two when the Sorensens and their partners close on the sale of Firehouse Subs to publicly traded Restaurant
Brands International Inc., the Canadian owner of Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons. For $1 billion. Cash. The deal with Toronto-based RBI was signed late at night Nov. 14. It was announced to employees, franchisees and the world at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 15. Sorensen said he was anxious that morning to explain the deal SEE FIREHOUSE, PAGE 6
THE BASCH REPORT
Dream Finders Homes stock cools off after IPO Plus: Redwire postpones earnings report. PAGE 8 VOLUME 109, NO. 4 • TWO SECTIONS