Charleys Philly Steaks

Not to be confused with O'Charley's.

Charleys Philly Steaks is an American restaurant chain specializing in Philly cheesesteak headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.^[2] Formerly known as Charley's Steakery and Charley's Grilled Subs, the franchise was established in 1986 on the campus of Ohio State University. By 2017 there were 600 locations in 45 states and in 19 countries. Charleys is believed to have doubled in size in 2021.^[3][1] In addition to traditional Philly cheesesteaks, the chain also has other steak based sandwiches and multiple grilled chicken sandwiches, among other grilled sandwiches.

Charleys Cheesesteaks

A Charley's Philly Steaks outlet in Valencia, California
Trade name	Charleys
Formerly	Charley's Steakery (1986–2002) Charley's Grilled Subs (2002–2012)
Company type	Private
Industry	Food
Genre	Fast casual
Founded	1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Founders	Charley Shin
Headquarters	Columbus, Ohio , United States
Number of locations	600 (2017[1])
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Charley Shin (CEO) Debbie Allison (Vice President)
Products	Cheesesteaks, grilled subs, french fries, soft drinks
Revenue	US$534 million (2021)
Owner	Gosh Enterprises
Number of employees	3,000 (2021)
Website	charleys.com

History

While studying real estate at Ohio State University, Korean American Charley Shin worked in his mother's Japanese/Korean restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.^[1] While taking a trip to New York City, the Shins took a detour to Philadelphia, resulting in Charley's discovery of the Philly cheesesteak. Charley convinced his mother to take a break, sell the restaurant, and invest her life savings of $48,000 in “Charley’s,” a 450-square-foot (42 m²) restaurant across the street from Ohio State's campus.^[4]

Gosh Enterprises

Charleys Philly Steaks is a subsidiary of Gosh Enterprises, which is solely owned by Shin.^[5] Gosh also owns the Bibibop Asian Grill chain,^[5] which had purchased the leases for the defunct ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen chain.^[6][7]

References

Footnotes

1. Chung, Grace (December 18, 2017). "How A Korean Immigrant Amassed A Food Empire By Serving An American Favorite". Forbes.com. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
2. " Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine." Charleys Philly Steaks. Retrieved on May 28, 2010.
3. "Charleys Philly Cheese Steaks Franchise Named a "Thriving Brand"". charleysfranchise.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
4. Slawsky, Richard (August 27, 2007). "Charley's Grilled Subs". Fast Casual. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011.
5. Ghose, Dave (January 23, 2018). "Who's Next: Charley Shin, founder and CEO of Bibibop Asian Grill". Columbus Monthly. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
6. Coser, Crystal (May 9, 2017). "Bibibop Asian Grill Takes Over All Shuttered ShopHouse Locations: Including four in Los Angeles". Eater LA.
7. Anderson, Caroline (March 20, 2017). "Bibibop Asian Grill Moving into Los Angeles ShopHouse Locations". Los Angeles Business Journal.

General sources

• Johnson-Elie, Tannette (December 5, 2006). "Mixing kindness with business". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
• Naylor, June (February 20, 2004). "Charlie's is hot on the grill (free preview)". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
• Chan, Candy Kit Har (November 25, 1994). "Steaking His Claim: Crafty Charley Shin Proves Fast Food, Franchising". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011.

External links

• Ohio portal
• Companies portal
• Food portal

• Official website