LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Papa John's founder John Schnatter isn't counting on history repeating itself now that he's an investor in a small, upscale sandwich venture that's coming to Louisville.
Schnatter sees a promising future for Calistoga Artisan Sandwiches, but thinks it's a long shot for his latest restaurant concept to become a national chain.
"I'm not counting on another Papa John's," Schnatter told The Courier-Journal of Louisville in a recent interview. "In business you can be pretty good, but you still have to have a little luck."< /p>
The Calistoga chain, founded in 2004 by Mark Bates, has three locations in Florida and one in Lexington, Ky.
Schnatter said the concept is still being tweaked. A new logo is in the works, he said, and the older locations, now called Calistoga Bakery Cafe, will soon be called Calistoga Artisan Sandwiches.
Louisville will get its first two Calistoga locations this fall.
Schnatter founded the Papa John's pizza chain in 1984 in a former broom closet.
"What most people forget is that it took nine years to get to 100 Papa John's," Schnatter said of what eventually rose to be the third-largest U.S. pizza chain. "We're going to be very methodical, one at a time."
Calistoga's challenges include a $10 average customer check, he said.
But Schnatter said the upscale restaurant's sandwiches are "to die for," and he believes his connections with vendors and others in the food industry will be a big advantage as the concept expands.
The cost to open a Calistoga restaurant is just under $1 million, and Schnatter said there is a $2 million target for annual sales.
Schnatter has sold $12.5 million worth of Papa John's stock so far this year.
He said he plans to continue selling shares of the company as part of a long-term diversification plan, but said his ownership stake in the pizza chain will remain between 20 percent and 30 percent.
Schnatter sold a total of $56.8 million worth of shares in 2007. His current ownership stake is 20.3 percent of the company, or 5.71 million shares.
There are no plans to combine Calistoga with Papa John's International, Schnatter said, and the two concepts are different enough that he doesn't see much competition between them.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
