Jersey Mike's Opening In Toms River, With Christie Rampone As Owner

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Jersey Mike’s Subs is opening a new franchise this week. And while most of its stores are opened by investors who are quiet investors, the new Toms River franchise has a little star power behind it: Christie Rampone.

Rampone, the U.S. Women's National Team soccer star and local fan favorite, and her husband Chris, are co-owners with Kevin Smith of a new location opening at 1 Route 37, in the Toms River Shopping Center. The grand opening is set for Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The grand opening also includes a fundraiser for Toms River High School South: From Wednesday through Sunday, Feb. 5, patrons who present a coupon and make a $2 donation to Toms River South will receive a free sub.

The new restaurant has distributed 7,500 coupons throughout the community, according to a news release from Jersey Mike's. Customers must have a coupon to be eligible for the free sub promotion.

“We couldn't be more excited about our expansion in the greater Toms River area,” Smith said. “For our grand opening, we have partnered with High School South, Toms River's longest standing high school, and look forward to offering the authentic Jersey Mike's experience to this segment of the community.”

Rampone, a Point Pleasant native who lives in Manasquan, has been a spokesperson for Jersey Mike's since 2012, and told the Asbury Park Press in November that owning a store was a natural step after growing up eating the subs. Jersey Mike's got its start in Point Pleasant in 1956.

"Honestly, it was always something I wanted to be a part of," she told APP.com.

The company said it now has 1,500 restaurants open and under development nationwide, and since 2010, Jersey Mike’s locations throughout the country have raised nearly $18 million for local charities and have distributed more than 1.5 million free sub sandwiches to help numerous causes.

In 2016, the company’s 6th Annual Jersey Mike’s Month of Giving in March raised more than $4 million for 180 charities throughout the country, the company said.

A second Rampone-owned Jersey Mike's is planned for the Commons at Hooper Shopping Center on Hooper Avenue. A grand opening has not yet been announced for that store.

Rampone was a star athlete at Point Pleasant Boro High School, where she set school records in soccer, basketball (2.190 points), and field hockey, and she also ran track, before graduating in 1992. She went on to play both soccer and basketball at Monmouth University before being invited to the U.S. Women's National Team in 1997. She was a substitute on the 1999 Women's World Cup winning U.S. team. She won four Olympic medals — three gold and a silver — with the U.S. women's soccer team and two World Cup championships. Rampone, who had knee surgery in December 2015, withdrew her name from the U.S. roster in the spring of 2016 after serving as the team's captain and recording 311 international appearances — second-most of any U.S. women's player.

The restaurant’s hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. You can contact this location directly at (848) 221-2472.

Photo via Jersey Mike's Facebook page