by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Expansion includes mobile unit and new site
Sandwiches named “Polo Ground, Godfather” and “Empire Club” have been served at Gibbs N.Y. Style Subs and Salads in Orange Park since 2006, but now residents of Duval County are getting a taste of the northern fare.
Every business is looking for ways to make a profit while keeping overhead costs down, especially in tough economic times. One way restaurant owner Chuck Gibbs found to do that was to create a “mobile unit” from which to sell his sandwiches and salads. He had a 1989 Fleetwood RV converted into a mobile kitchen and has been serving Cecil Commerce Center for about a month. It is equipped with a refrigeration unit that also serves as the sandwich and salad making station, microwaves, warming trays, a bread toaster, cash register and a wireless credit card machine.
“We had the idea for it a couple of years. I thought about the mobile mess halls we had in the Army,” said Gibbs, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. “I figured if they could do that out of a truck in the woods, we should be able to do it in a parking lot.”
The used RV wasn’t ready to use directly after it was bought. Luckily, there was some driver’s side damage to the vehicle that needed repair. That meant a hole could be cut into the driver’s side to allow the refrigerator to be installed because it was too big to fit in the side door. Service windows were created at the rear and front of the vehicle. Customers order sandwiches at the rear of the truck and pick up at the front. All of this equipment needed more power than the standard power plant of the vehicle could provide, so two generators were added to the rear of the RV.
The mobile unit serves Cecil Commerce Center five days a week for lunch and business is approaching 70 customers a day who choose from a menu that provides a sandwich, chips and a drink or a salad and a drink for less than $10.
“Sales continue to increase each week by 4-5 percent,” said Gibbs. “It’s a viable alternative for the people who work at Cecil Field. Most of them are hourly employees who have 30 minutes for lunch and the remote location doesn’t allow them a lot of options.”
Gibbs’ son, Jason, is at the restaurant before sunrise preparing the food to stock the RV with and is the captain of the RV.
“It’s a really busy two-hour window we work with for lunch,” said Jason Gibbs. “The set up has worked out really smoothly, though.”
The Gibbs plan to expand service to Blount Island, Talleyrand shipping terminal and Dames Point.
The RV may be parked on the weekends, but that doesn’t mean it’s not available. They missed the window to register as a vendor during Florida-Georgia weekend, but are available to cater corporate functions and parties.
“(The RV) is perfect for catering,” said Gibbs. “We bring the kitchen right to you.”
The success of the sandwich shop didn’t happen overnight. After retiring from a 21-year career in the Army that was unrelated to the food industry, Chuck Gibbs was introduced to sandwich shops by a neighbor who owned a couple of Subway restaurants and shortly after opened a Subway of his own in 1991. He moved on to Larry’s Giant Subs in 1995 and stayed with the franchise for 11 years, but at the end of the franchise agreement it was time to make a change.
“I thought it was time to do our own thing,” said Gibbs. “I wanted to bring good, fresh ingredients that might cost a little more, but just taste better. I couldn’t do that and be under a franchise agreement.”
Hanging his own sign up on the Orange Park location on Kingsley Avenue, Gibbs developed relationship with Boars Head Provisions Company to offer quality cold cuts and Village Bread supplied his sandwich rolls.
“We even switched to Hellman’s mayonnaise” said Gibbs. “It may not seem like a big change, but it just tastes better than products other food distributors offer.”
Gibbs’s signature subs and salads should be available to the Riverside just before Santa makes his trip to see all the good boys and girls of the area. A new location at the corner of Barrs Street and Riverside Avenue will offer inside and patio seating, and Gibbs plans to make deliveries via tricycle to his neighbors at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
“I don’t know how I stumbled into the food business,” said Gibbs, reflecting on his second career. “I’ve learned that if you offer a quality product in a clean environment in a friendly manner at a good price, people will come to you.”
356-2466