McAlister's Deli is an American chain of

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conc ...

restaurants founded in 1989 in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

, by retired

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

Dr. Don Newcomb. There are currently over 500 locations in 29 states. The menu includes deli

sandwiches A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

, "giant spuds" (baked

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

soups Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingre ...

salads A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

, and

desserts Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts of ...

, as well as

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

items such as sandwich trays and boxed lunches. The chain is also known for its McAlister's Famous

Sweet Tea Sweet tea, also known as sweet iced tea, is a popular style of iced tea commonly consumed in countries such as the United States (especially the South) and Indonesia. Sweet tea is most commonly made by adding sugar or simple syrup to black tea e ...

, which is available by the glass or by the gallon. McAlister's Deli - together with

Schlotzsky's Schlotzsky's is an American franchise chain of restaurants, specializing in sandwiches and pizza. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Schlotzsky's has more than 330 franchised and company-owned locations throughout the United Sta ...

, Carvel,

Moe's Southwest Grill Moe's Southwest Grill, referred to informally as Moe's, is an American fast casual restaurant franchise chain that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2000FOCUS Brands press release, FOCUS Brands to Acquire Moe’s Southwest Grill', April ...

Cinnabon Cinnabon is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is a cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there are more th ...

, Jamba, and

Auntie Anne's Auntie Anne's is an American franchised chain of pretzel shops founded by Anne F. Beiler and her husband, Jonas, in 1988. Auntie Anne's serves products such as pretzels, dips, and beverages. They also offer Pretzels & More Homemade Baking Mix fo ...

- is part of the

Focus Brands Focus Brands is an American company that is an affiliate of the American private equity firm Roark Capital Group that currently owns the Schlotzsky's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, Auntie Anne's and Jamba brands. ...

portfolio of brands.

History

The original restaurant was started in a renovated gas station, and many of the elements of that original look are present in many McAlister's Delis built today, such as a

garage door A garage door is a large door on a garage that opens either manually or by an electric motor (a garage door opener). Garage doors are frequently large enough to accommodate automobiles and other vehicles. Small garage doors may be made in a sin ...

and nostalgic black-and-white tile. The deli originally opened under the name Checker's and was later changed to McAlister's. In 1999, founder Don Newcomb sold the company to CEO Michael J. Stack and executive Philip Friedman for an undisclosed amount. Stack replaced Newcomb while retaining his CEO position. Newcomb remained in the company as a board director and as an exclusive franchisee for Kentucky. At the time of the sale, McAlister's Deli had 45 franchised and company-owned locations in the Southeast.

Roark Capital Group Roark Capital Group is an American private equity firm with over $33 billion in assets under management. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies, primarily in the franchise/multi-location, restaurant and fo ...

acquired McAlister's Deli in 2005. At the time of the acquisition, McAlister's Deli had 170 franchised and company-owned locations in 19 states. Most McAlister's Deli restaurants are owned and operated by independent

franchisees Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

, ranging from single-location, family-owned operations, to larger, multi-unit groups such as JME, Inc., DMAC 81 LLC (with locations in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina), and

The Saxton Group The Saxton Group is the one of the largest franchisees of the restaurant McAlister's Deli McAlister's Deli is an American chain of fast casual restaurants founded in 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by retired dentist Dr. Don Newcomb. There a ...

. The Saxton Group is the largest franchisee of McAlister's Deli, operating over 75 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. The chain's headquarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

References

External links

*
McAlister's Deli official Franchise website
{{coord, 34.363925, -89.516210, display=title Fast casual restaurants Lafayette County, Mississippi Restaurants in Mississippi Restaurants established in 1989 Fast-food chains of the United States Delicatessens in the United States 1989 establishments in Mississippi American companies established in 1989 2005 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Sandy Springs, Georgia

History

See also

References

External links