Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurant to open near UCLA
By Sam Hoff
April 17, 2014 1:12 a.m.
Westwood Village will soon be home to the first Los Angeles franchise of the popular Midwestern sandwich chain Jimmy John’s.
The restaurant will open in August in a vacant space on Westwood Boulevard next to D’Amore’s Pizza, just north of Lindbrook Drive, said Rick Chancellor, western region vice president for the McDevitt Company.
Jimmy John’s has more than 1,600 locations across the country, according to their website. Their closest current location to UCLA, in Pasadena, opened in December.
Chancellor said the chain is expanding to the California market, and is targeting college markets. In March, the chain opened a store in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara.
The new restaurant will open in a space formerly used by Sandbags, another sandwich shop which closed in 2012. Sandbags struggled for years to attract business from UCLA students.
Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said that though Jimmy John’s is not a local business, he is excited to see Westwood fill more of its empty storefronts with businesses students will enjoy.
“Any time you see a ‘leased’ sign in a window, it puts a smile on my face because it shows momentum and investment in Westwood.” Sann said.
