Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2015 | Page 28

BY HELEN BOND

S

Idea Man

Steve Sager continues his innovative ways

teve Sager knows a good idea
when he sees one. The franchise
veteran championed Subway’s
innovative $5 footlong sandwich as a nationwide promotion and
pioneered the brand’s use of speedy
ovens to offer customers toasted subs
in a flash. So when Sager says he sees
financial promise in a new fast casual
pizza franchise, you might want to listen.
Sager, who owns 16 Subways in South
Flori da and 7 Auntie Anne’s in Florida,
Alabama, and Mississippi, is in on the
ground floor of a development plan for
Persona Neapolitan Pizzeria, a createyour-own, handcrafted pizza concept

out of Santa Barbara, Calif.
At Subway, Sager opened 265 stores
over the years as a development agent
and has grown accustomed to fielding
queries from franchising candidates
seeking his funding and expertise. Still,
Sager wasn’t shopping for a new brand
when he traveled to California to check
out Persona, co-founded by classically
trained chef Joe Baumel, the son of a
family friend. The 30-year franchisee
was intrigued by the idea of serving up a
custom wood-fired pizza in 90 seconds.
He inked Persona’s first franchise development agreement—for 20 restaurants in South Florida that he plans to

roll out over the next 3 to 5 years. The
game changer, he says, was how good
the pizza tasted.
“It wasn’t in my mindset to grow
another food company, but I found
something that was unique enough that
got me excited,” says Sager, president of
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sager Management Group. “The reality is, to make
money in the food business is not easy.
You really have to have a brand that is
going to cut through the clutter, and
that is not always easy to do.”
Sager knows what it takes to succeed in franchising. Thanks to “luck”
and the financial backing of his father,
who felt his son was suited to be his own
boss, Sager was 25 when he opened his
first Subway in 1985. In just four years,
the pair would open 12 South Florida
locations.
“Back then, it was unheard of to be
a multi-unit franchisee that quickly,”
Sager says. “It just wasn’t the kind of
business people did. We just started
NAME: Steven Sager
TITLE: President
COMPANY: Sager Management

Group

NO. OF UNITS: 16 Subways, 7
Auntie Anne’s; Persona Neapolitan
Pizzeria (agreement to develop 20
units in 3 to 5 years)
AGE: 53
FAMILY: Wife Rebecca, daughter

Remy

YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 30
YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION:

I have been a franchisee and
development agent of Subway for
30 years.

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