When Manuel Perez was 16, his cousin got him his first job waiting tables at a local restaurant near where he grew up in Northeast Iowa.
He never left the industry.
“I enjoyed the collaboration with people,” said Perez, owner of JMLM Restaurants, a Subway franchisee with locations in the Twin Cities, at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport. “Taking the order, making the food, delivering the food, the aftercare of the meal, the farewell, I liked the whole process of it. I love food. I love serving food. I love seeing people enjoy food.”
Perez got connected with Subway for the first time in the late 1980s when it was a hot, growing brand. He liked the clean menu and simple process after having come from a chicken brand he found not a good fit.
“I hated all the grease,” he said. “Subway was clean, easy, quick – it wasn’t really complicated. I was just drawn to it, I guess.”
He became friends with the franchisee, who mentored him on reading financial statements and running the business. They worked together for five years before Perez struck out on his own for the first time.
He bought a pizza place in Prior Lake, grew that, opened a second location in Jordan. He did that for a few years but found it more difficult than he anticipated. And he was growing a young family. So, he sold that and ventured back to Subway.
That’s where his business took off. He’s had as many as 16 locations, though staffing issues, life changes and other challenges during the pandemic caused him to downsize. He currently has four.
Through the years, Perez has won many awards from Subway for sales increase, improved store and best remodel. He’s also become somewhat of a fixer, building a reputation for acquiring and turning around underperforming stores. Oftentimes they were in good locations but not run well and he went in “with a box of Tide and some smiles,” he said.
In seriousness, he said, work ethic, training and improved operations can make a significant difference.
“We predicated ourselves – I always led by this example – of hard work,” he said. “You go in, you do things right, things start changing. Business starts increasing, customer base starts increasing, employees are happy. As we grew, we used that template with every place we went.”
Getting into the airport
While he credits hard work for building his company, his move into MSP came somewhat by accident. He’d never considered it until one day in 2002 when he was sharing beverages and playing video games with a couple friends who suggested he figure out how it worked.
He liked the idea and searched for the right representative from the airport to seek out some help, eventually landing on then Manager of Concessions Joe Anderson, whom he said told him “Subway is the No. 1 requested brand for MSP.”
“He and I clicked,” Perez said. “He was a no B.S. guy. You knew where you stood. That’s what I loved about him.”
Anderson coached him through the lengthy process of becoming certified as an Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and suggested he start attending airport board meetings. When the airport ran a procurement a couple years later, he was awarded space in Terminal 1. He now operates out of both terminals.
“It’s the thing that truly transformed my business,” Perez said. “It’s been the best career thing that has happened to me.”
Anderson retired in 2010 and passed away a few years later. But Isabella Rhawie, current director of concessions and business development at MSP, said both locations have been extremely successful at MSP.
“It’s a crowd pleaser,” she said. “It’s one of those concepts that is a necessity to have in an airport.”
Perez is super optimistic, a cheerleader for his staff and “one of the first ones to offer services or extend his hours or provide food for an event,” she said.
What’s next?
Perez believes in contributing to the betterment of his employees and his community through giving time, expertise and financial resources. He donates to schools, churches, nonprofits.
“I’m a firm believer in giving back to as many communities as I can,” he said. “I have been blessed and need to help the world be a better place where I can.”
His efforts earned him the designation as U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minnesota Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year. And though he’s inching closely enough to retirement to be thinking about it, he also is nowhere near finished adding to his restaurant portfolio.
He considers the MSP location his flagship store, but recently added a location at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport and hopes to add additional locations, whether Subways or different restaurant brands, in other airports.
He’s also working with his life partner Suzie Dahl and daughter Mercedes Dahl (He has another daughter, Lexxi Perez, from a previous marriage) to open Chula’s, a family-oriented, sit-down Mexican Latin restaurant named after his granddaughter, next year in Prior Lake.
“We’re really excited about that,” he said.
