Cousins Subs

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Cousins Subs
Type	Private
Founded	Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1972)
Headquarters	Wisconsin area
Key people	Bill Specht (Founder), Christine Specht (President)
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Sandwiches Salads Other food products
Website	www.cousinssubs.com

Cousins Subs is a U.S. sub sandwich chain founded in 1972 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Cousins Subs is a national chain with stores throughout the Midwest and on the West Coast. Cousins Subs started in 1972, when two cousins from Atlantic City, NJ, Bill Specht and James Sheppard, saw the need for an East coast–style sub shop in their new hometown. They patterned their subs after the hoagie, grinder, hero and sub sandwiches they enjoyed back East.

They opened their first restaurant in Milwaukee, located at 60th Street and Silver Spring Drive. That location closed after several years of successful operation. The oldest existing Cousins Subs is located on the corner of Brady Street and Farwell Avenue in Milwaukee. Cousins gained a reputation for having the best subs in Milwaukee because of their fresh baked bread and ample portions of meat and cheese. Cousins continued to open company-owned stores until 2004.

Until 1985 all Cousins Subs locations were company-owned. The very first franchisee of Cousins Subs was James Valentine. He opened the franchise in 1985 at Loehmanns Plaza (Now called V.Richards Plaza) in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Calhoun Road and West Bluemound Road, the restaurant is still in business today, and hence is the oldest Cousins Subs franchise.

Cousins saw a decline in sales beginning in 2001 due in part to increased competition from Subway, Jimmy Johns, Quiznos, and other sandwich-based quick service establishments. In October 2004, Cousins announced that it would be selling 32 of their 40 company owned stores to franchisees in order to adopt a more traditional franchise growth model.

Although the majority of franchises remain in Wisconsin, Cousins restaurants can be found in 10 states, including stores in Arizona, California and Texas.

Co-founder James "Jim" Sheppard died on July 2nd, 2007 due to complications stemming from surgery and long-term health problems.

Dan Patrick, a sports anchor and a sub expert, is the spokesperson for Cousins Subs.