The gulp and run strategy of food consumption—students are masters at it. They're also experts at sniffing out overfilled sandwiches that sell at bargain prices. So a deli located on the outskirts of campus? Why wouldn't it be successful? Five words : the lure of the surf.
In the late 1960s, the original Togo's, on East William Street, was jointly owned by two fellows named Tom and Gordon (thus the business name: "Togo's"). But Tom and Gordon were, at heart, surfer dudes, not businessmen; they preferred wave riding to sandwich making.
Enter Mike Cobler, an enterprising undergrad, majoring in psychology, who had lost all tolerance for cafeteria food. In 1971, he offered to buy, along with the name, the underperforming sandwich shop. Tom and Gordon (we can only suppose) slapped palms and headed to the beach to celebrate.
Cobler invested his life savings—$19,000—in the enterprise and made a sweeping executive decision: more meat, more fillings, nevermore any skimpy sandwiches. The Togo's brand would thereafter stand for generous-sized subs filled with fresh, high quality ingredients that sold for reasonable prices. How reasonable? In 1971, the #9 pastrami sub cost 75 cents, the top-of-the-line roast beef sub a mere 85 cents. Full stomachs in exchange for only slightly lighter wallets. San José State students arrived in droves.
To make the sandwiches, Cobler hired fellow Spartans at the princely sum of $2.10 per hour. Those self-described "sandwich jockeys" organized competitions to see who could make the fastest "presentable" sandwich, start to finish. "Start to finish" covered cutting the bread; slathering on oil, mayo or mustard; layering heaps of meat, cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and/or other veggies; halving the whole; wrapping it, bagging it and setting it on the counter for customer pick-up. Best time and longest-held record in those early days? A zippy 45 seconds. Soon random pedestrians were congregating at the front window to watch the sandwich- making action.
"After about 5 months … things really took off," Cobler
told the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Took off and
kept going. Cobler opened a second store in Campbell in
1974. Three years later, he started selling franchises across
the country. By 1997, when the British corporation that
owned the Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream
chains acquired the Togo's chain, the company's annual
revenues exceeded $100 million. Last year, the company
changed hands again, bought by San Francisco-based Mainsail
Partners.
A Togo's return to its Bay Area roots seems only fitting.
After all, as Cobler so aptly put it: "San José State was the
spawning ground."
—Kat Meads
Our online survey of Washington Square readers revealed that 54 percent of you thought we give too little coverage to San José State's history and traditions. This regular feature is devoted to photos, stories and memories from days of yore. Send your suggestions, memories and/or photos to us by mail to WSQ Editor / SJSU / One Washington Square / San José, CA 95192-0005.
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