Austell, GA 30106-8242
Store opened: April 2000, Miller took over corporate store in November 2003
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Q: Where are you originally from?
A: Hattiesburg, MS
Q: Before Franchising, what were you involved with?
A: I worked as an independent medical sales rep in Hattiesburg, MS before moving to Douglasville, GA (where I live now) about seven years ago.
Q: Are you a first time business owner?
A: Nope, I’ve been a business man all my life! The most notable is probably the protective products company I owned and operated with my brother. We made protective clothing for medical professionals.
Q: How did you learn about the brand?
A: I’d often visit my cousin in Greenville, MS, and one day he said, “Let me take you to this great little sub shop!” It was, of course, Lenny’s, and I had the Philly Cheesesteak there and thought, “Wow, this is great!” So we kept going back, and I got to know the Greenville manager and he told me Lenny’s was a franchise, so I went to Memphis, where Lenny’s home office is, and I went right upstairs and met Len Moore, the Lenny, founder of Lenny’s Sub Shop, and spent a few hours with him. Then I talked to my daughter, who was about to graduate from Southern Miss, and told her about it and she said “Oh yeah, I love Lenny’s!” and I learned then that there had been a Lenny’s in my own home town of Hattiesburg, MS all along, but I was working so much I didn’t even know about it! So with my daughter on board and my two younger sons, still in college, saying they were interested too, Len suggested that we take over a couple corporate stores in Atlanta, so we checked them out, liked them, and packed up and moved! We took over 2 stores—the Austell location and another in Morrow, GA, at Southlake Mall. My daughter and her husband ran the Southlake store and did a great job for years until Chick-Fil-A came in and got them to work there. So now my youngest son, Kevin, who majored in hotel management and hospitality, runs the Southlake store, and is doing a great job! I call him my “mini-me!” He really cares about the customers and the people and has been with me through all the economical ups and downs.
Q: How do you see the brand connecting with your local community?
A: We have a great relationship with the Cobb County police department. We help sponsor and feel the Explorers, a program they do for young people, getting them to stay away from things like drugs and gangs by building positive relationships with local law enforcement. We used to sponsor all the high schools, feed the football team, but that got very expensive so we had to cut back when the economy got rough.
Q: What are your future goals? Development plans?
A: We do plan on opening more stores someday, but we’re waiting on the economy. We had a turndown in 2007 and things stayed down in 2008 and 2009. We’ve had some improvement this year but I’m going to wait until things are a little steadier before opening up another store.
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