an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message blimpie international inc. company s logo since 2009 type subsidiary industry fast food founded hoboken new jersey united states may 16 1964 founder angelo baldassare tony conza peter decarlo headquarters 9311 east via de ventura boulevard scottsdale arizona 85258 united states area served global products submarine sandwiches salads other food products parent mty food group website www.blimpie.com blimpie international inc. is a submarine sandwich chain in the united states . the company is based in scottsdale arizona . the first blimpie store opened on may 16 1964 in hoboken new jersey . by mid 2002 there were about 2 000 blimpie outlets in operation located in 47 states and in 15 other countries . unlike most restaurant chains blimpie generally does not operate company stores . virtually all its income is derived from fees that are associated with franchise arrangements . in addition to freestanding outlets and locations in shopping malls and store clusters blimpie can also be found in a variety of nontraditional sites such as inside convenience stores gasoline station food marts schools office complexes hospitals and sports arenas . the number of blimpie locations declined by over 60 % through 2011 . a key area of growth is in the development or acquisition of other brands . in 1999 the company launched pasta central a franchised chain within the home meal replacement category featuring italian style pasta and pizza ; the concept was exclusively a vehicle for co branded blimpie pasta central outlets . two years earlier blimpie international acquired majority control of maui tacos a mexican quick service restaurant with a hawaiian flavor . maui tacos in 1998 launched smoothie island a chain offering blended fruit based beverages . contents 1 history 1.1 1960s through mid 1970s 1.2 late 1970s through 1989 1.3 1990 present 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit 1960s through mid 1970s edit the first blimpie sub shop opened on may 16 1964 in hoboken by tony conza peter decarlo and angelo bandassare former high school buddies and classmates at saint peter s prep in jersey city . 1 2 inspired by the successful point pleasant operation mike s submarines later jersey mike s subs the three speculated that a similar restaurant would do well in hoboken . the store s name came about because tony conza preferred not to call the sandwiches subs which he felt sounded like a greasy spoon . conza preferred the term hoagies but hoboken residents were unfamiliar with the philadelphia term . he scanned a dictionary until he found blimp a word that sounded to him most like a sandwich . 3 the original blimpie store was a hit and before long customers began asking about franchises . the first franchise was sold to a friend in western new york for 600 during the company s first year of operation . in 1965 bandassare left the company and conza and decarlo expanded into new york city with a store on 55th street in manhattan . by 1967 there were 10 blimpie restaurants in the chain four of which were owned by the founders . in spite of the chain s rapid growth and good sales volume profits were difficult to make and the partners sold the four stores they owned and began to concentrate primarily on franchising . by the mid 1970s conza felt the time was ripe to introduce blimpie subs to the south . decarlo was against the move . this disagreement led to a split between the two . in 1976 blimpie was divided into two entities with both retaining rights to the blimpie trademark . decarlo became head of a new completely independent company metropolitan blimpie later blimpie s of new york inc. which controlled franchising rights in new york new jersey and other parts of the east coast . conza retained control of the original company which was incorporated in 1977 as international blimpie corporation . conza remained chairman and chief executive officer of blimpie through january 2002 . late 1970s through 1989 edit during the late 1970s conza sold franchises anywhere he found an interest . blimpie began selling franchises both for individual stores and for territories . unfortunately many of these new franchises were rather isolated from the rest of the chain and some benefits of franchise arrangements had little effect in those locations . although the chain was growing rapidly several of the newer stores failed . by 1983 international blimpie s annual revenues were approaching 1 million and blimpie s franchises totaled 150 . conza took the company public that year with an initial over the counter offering of 90 cents per share . citation needed conza felt that there was no future in submarine sandwiches and in 1984 opened border caf a tablecloth restaurant serving southwestern cuisine on manhattan s upper east side . although the border caf did reasonably well at first this shift in focus was a mistake . while conza was turning his attention away from subs competitor subway which was founded a year after the first blimpie s was opened was beginning an expansion drive that would push it far ahead of blimpie as the world s foremost submarine sandwich chain . 4 after the border caf s initial success conza opened two more of them in 1986 one in woodstock new york and the other on the upper west side of manhattan . unfortunately the border caf idea was a money loser . despite 4.5 million in revenues for 1987 its largest total yet the company showed a net loss of 347 800 for the year . that year only 30 new blimpie restaurants were opened and company stock was in free fall bottoming out as low as 15 cents per share . conza s interest in his core business began to return . over the next couple of years atlanta became the company s biggest target for new blimpie s franchises . in 1987 the company celebrated the opening of the 50th blimpie s store in the atlanta area by giving away 25 000 free sandwiches to customers there . 3 by 1988 conza realized the error of his ways and he exited the tex mex business . seeing the tremendous success of subway conza redoubled his efforts in the hoagie arena . he began to address the blimpie problem with a more systematic approach than he had used before . the first step in conza s revitalization program was to identify four fundamental problems plaguing the business a lack of goals poor use of financial resources low employee morale and procrastination . he then assembled a group of managers and drew up a list of 101 small improvements . delegating to his senior staff much of the day to day managing he had always done himself conza went on the road in an attempt to open up the long closed channels of communication between blimpie and its franchisees . next blimpie launched a quality control program aimed at cleaning up its 140 new york restaurants which had long been sources of embarrassment to the chain . 5 at the same time conza continued in his efforts to improve relations with franchisees many of whom had become disgruntled over the last decade . in addition to visiting dozens of cities to meet restaurant owners conza formed a franchisee advisory council to keep him apprised of important issues ; he launched a newsletter called no baloney news and a toll free hotline to get important information to franchisees ; and he gave franchisees more control over advertising through the formation of regional advertising co ops . in 1989 blimpie began testing a new low calorie menu in the hope of attracting a bigger share of the increasingly fat conscious american public . citation needed the new menu called blimpie lite included a variety of tuna crab chicken and turkey based items in both salad and pita bread sandwich form . the following year the company launched another test gourmet salads sold under the name blimpie fresherie . blimpie began tinkering with its prototype restaurant design around this time incorporating the company s signature lime green and yellow colors into a sleeker look for new outlets . by 1990 the blimpie turnaround was well underway with system wide sales reaching 120 million per year . 1990 present edit the blimpie chain continued to grow steadily through the early 1990s . much of this growth was fueled by the company s area developer program in which franchise rights were sold for an entire area to a developer who then subfranchised those rights to individual operators . the company continued testing new products throughout this period . in 1991 blimpie unveiled its quick bite menu . the company also began testing pizza at a handful of locations in an effort to expand its dinner business . conza s attempts to improve franchisee relations continued as well . the company s first annual franchisee convention was held in 1991 . by the beginning of 1992 there were blimpie restaurants in 27 states . that year the chain passed the 500 unit mark and the company changed its name to blimpie international inc. reflecting the renewed focus on the sub brand . in the spring of 1993 blimpie began trading its stock on the nasdaq exchange . 6 around this time the company began to sink more resources into advertising than it had in the past doubling its marketing budget to about 2 million per year . a new advertising campaign was launched including television radio print and point of purchase . this campaign marked the introduction of the chain s new tag line simply blimpie for fresh sliced subs . some television spots featured people on the street struggling to repeat the tongue twisting phrase simply blimpie . 7 blimpie system sales reached 132 million by 1993 and blimpie international earned 1 million on 12 million in revenue . by autumn of that year the chain had 670 outlets . improved marketing support from the parent company reduced the rate of franchise failures from 10 percent to 3 percent . in some cases such as in the chicago market conza allowed franchisees to divert their 6 percent annual franchise fee to advertising . 8 as the 1990s continued blimpie devised a new concept that accelerated the chain s growth . blimpie s franchises began appearing in nontraditional locations . first was convenience stores . as convenience store proprietors began to seek ways to compensate for declining cigarette sales they turned to fast food . blimpie s was the natural choice for many for two reasons a real kitchen was not required and startup costs were relatively low as little as 35 000 compared with other fast food operations . among the early nontraditional sites for blimpie s outlets were the des moines iowa based kum & go convenience store chain texaco food marts in mississippi and the food court at the university of texas . blimpie s also became part of the first home depot superstore restaurant section located in atlanta . 9 in 1994 the company launched several new concepts to further its drive for nontraditional venues . the blimpie kiosk was a movable condensed restaurant that could fit into a 100 square foot 9.3 m2 area . the kiosk which could serve four types of sandwiches drinks and side orders was designed for use at stadiums fairs and other events . other new concepts included a special refrigerated case for convenience stores blimpie s fastest growing market and the blimpie bakery offering a variety of baked goods aimed at boosting early morning business . 10 blimpie reached two major milestones in