Here's Why You Don't See A Lot Of The Blimpie Sandwich Chain Anymore

Blimpie used to be one of the major players in the sub sandwich chain wars, but today it has largely fallen from the competitive landscape. At its height, Blimpie had around 2,000 locations, but as of June 2025, there were only 95 left, 20 of them in New Jersey, its founding state (per ScrapeHero). Several factors contributed to the decline of the sub sandwich chain, among them questionable business decisions, poor management, and rising competition.

Three 24-year-old high school friends opened the first Blimpie in 1964 in their Hoboken, New Jersey, hometown. Tony Conza, Peter DeCarlo, and Angelo Baldassare were inspired after traveling to Point Pleasant to try the sandwiches at a buzzy spot called Mike's Subs (which eventually grew to become Jersey Mike's). They named their fresh-sliced sandwich place Blimpie Base after the idea that the subs looked like blimps, shortening it to Blimpie soon after.

The shop was successful from the start, and they quickly began opening more stores. Although the Blimpies were doing well, the friends were spending more than they were bringing in and falling deeper into debt. To raise money, they began selling the stores as franchises. Baldassare left in 1965, and the other two split in 1976 when Conza wanted to expand into the South and DeCarlo preferred to stay in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Conza retained the original company, and DeCarlo went forward with what was called Metropolitan Blimpie.

Tony Conza's wider expansion wasn't well managed; with franchises multiplying, quality slipped as many failed to maintain company standards and store cleanliness. Conza further distracted himself by opening several Border Café Mexican restaurants in New York City in the 1980s, which soon closed at a loss. As Blimpie's focus wavered, another sandwich shop was picking up speed — and nowadays, it feels like Subway is just about everywhere.

Following the Border Café failure, Conza refocused on Blimpie. He worked with franchisees to enforce guidelines and launched new items like salads and lighter subs. Sales recovered, fueling massive growth in the mid-'90s, where smaller Blimpies began opening in non-traditional locations like convenience stores, colleges, hospitals, and sports arenas. Locations surged from around 200 to 2,000 between 1988 and the late '90s. However, sales soon fell again amid rising competition from Subway, Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's, and  Quiznos (which experienced a dramatic decline itself).

Conza sold Blimpie to an investment group in 2001 for $25.7 million, which attempted a refresh with an updated logo, redesigned restaurants, and grilled panini sandwiches. The current owner, franchising company Kahala Brands, bought it five years later in 2006. But Blimpie's accumulated challenges and missteps proved too great; it continued to falter, closing over 1,000 locations between 2001 and 2011 to reach its current count of fewer than 100 stores. But who knows? Blimpie might yet join the ranks of old-school restaurant chains making a comeback.