August 13, 2013
Potbelly Sandwich Shop Has Belly Full of Cash With Successful IPO
By Frederick H. Lowe
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from TheNorthStarNews.com
Chicago-based restaurant chain Potbelly Sandwich Shop's Initial Public Offering on Friday ate most of this year's IPO competition.
The company set an opening day price of $14 per share for 7,500,000 shares of common stock. But by the end of the trading day, Potbelly's stock soared 119.79 percent to close at $30.77.
Investors.com said Potbelly's IPO was the hottest debut this year since Noodles & Co. Noodles' stock rose 123% on August 1, the first day of its IPO.
"I'm very happy with the outcome," Aylwin Lewis, the company's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said on one television news program.
Interviewed on another program, Lewis, former president and CEO of Sears Holdings, parent company of retailers Sears and Kmart, said Potbelly serves great sandwiches and hires nice people.
Potbelly sells warm sandwiches, salads, made-to-order milkshakes and freshly baked cookies. The chain operates 288 shops in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Franchisees operate seven shops in the United States and 12 overseas.
Potbelly, a former antiques store, was founded in 1977 on North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.
The shop began offering customers sandwiches to boost antique sales. This resulted in a loyal following for its sandwiches.
Businessman Bryant Keil bought the business in 1996 and expanded it nationwide and overseas.