With a focus on fresh ingredients and friendly, personalized service, Little King says it works to treat its customers like royalty.

After nearly 40 years, President Robert Wertheim says Little King has earned a loyal customer following by providing “the Little King experience.” He explains that its restaurants specialize in providing far friendlier service than their competitors.

“To me, that’s the difference between us and the next guy,” Wertheim says. “We know, in most of our shops, 60 [to] 70 percent of the customers that walk through the door.”

Based in Omaha, Neb., Little King sells deli and hero sandwiches, soups, salads and baked desserts. Wertheim adds that the company’s locations use only fresh-baked bread and meats that are sliced as customers place their orders.

“Not only do we fresh-slice the meats, we dress the sandwich to the customers’ needs and wants,” he adds. “We personalize their sandwich. At other shops, they make it the way it comes [and] they don’t give you choice of what you want on it,” adding that his company operates with the “Little King way.”

In addition to lettuce, tomato, oils, vinegar, salt and oregano, “Our customers can then add additional toppings of their choice to personalize their sandwich,” he says, noting that customers can also add additional meat and cheese.

In addition, Little King uses high-quality cheeses that are sliced fresh and marked with the “Real Cheese” seal.

On the 'Ground'
The company has 15 franchise locations in Nebraska and Colorado. Wertheim says Little King’s locations are in large strip centers with at least one or two major anchors. Usually, he says, the company concentrates on operating in towns with a minimum population of 3,000.

Wertheim describes Little King as “a great, ground-floor opportunity” for franchisees. “[We’re all] about long-term relationships with our people,” he says.

To ensure success, Wertheim says the company makes sure it doesn’t overflow markets with locations that would compete against each other. “If you look at some of our competition, they’re on every corner,” he says. “We won’t oversaturate to help ensure [our franchisees’] success.”

In addition, Little King tries to prepare its franchisees extensively. “[We provide] 15 days of training before you ever open up your store,” Wertheim describes, adding that the company also sits in with its franchisees during their first 10 days of business. “If they’re not successful, we’re not successful.”

Service-Focused
When training employees, Little King makes sure its employees understand that greeting and saying “thank you” to customers is not a choice, Wertheim says. “It is something that is required, and we start [that] right away on their first day,” he adds.

“We’ve got to wow them,” he continues. “They’ve already made a decision to [come to Little King], so we’ve got to get them to want to come in again.”

In addition to remembering its customers’ favorite sandwiches, Little King also makes a point of greeting them as they enter its locations.

Staying Consistent
Recent additions to Little King’s menu have included gyros and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs. “[Nathan’s has] really been a nice addition,” he says. “They’re a quality brand that people know.”

However, Little King usually develops new menu offerings from items it already offers, Wertheim says. Past additions have included chicken bacon deluxe and chicken mushroom sandwiches, as well as items geared toward such food trends as the Atkins diet.

He adds that Little King retains customer loyalty through the consistency of its menu, with such longstanding items as its trademark sandwich, the Royal Treat. The sandwich features prosciutto, capicola, hard salami, boiled ham and provolone cheese.

Spreading the Concept
Little King has its sights set on expanding throughout the United States. “My goal is to become one of the top-five sub sandwich chains in the country over the next eight to 10 years,” Wertheim states, adding that he is in discussions to bring the concept to Florida, Pennsylvania and Kansas City, Kan. In addition, its expansion plans include concentrating on area developers.

The company is also focusing on expanding its services. For the next 12 to 18 months, Wertheim says, he will concentrate on Little King’s catering businesses with sack lunches and party trays.

According to Wertheim, his goal will be to make sure Little King is not only thought of first when it comes to subs, but also catering. He says catering fits well with Little King, due to the high level of personalized service involved.

In addition, “I’m in the process of developing an express unit for the convenient gas station stores,” Wertheim says. The units will feature a smaller version of Little King’s menu and represent a “low-cost investment” for franchisees.