TOGO'S is a franchise-based business. Some TOGO'S locations are co-branded with Baskin-Robbins' ice cream shops (which were both owned by the same parent company from 1997 to 2007). As of November 2025, the company has over 145 locations open throughout the West.[4]
In 1964, two students of Northern Michigan University, Tom Neumann and Gordon Reed, opened the first TOGO'S in Marquette, Michigan. The origin of the name is twofold. The two co-founders combined parts of their first names, the "TO" from Tom and "GO" from Gordon. Additionally, the original shop had no seating, so all of the orders were "to-go". Neumann departed a year after the founding, and in 1966 Reed sold the business to Joseph Fountain.[5] Fountain moved the Marquette business twice, settling in its current location at 1000 North Third Street.[6] A second location in nearby Harvey was opened in the mid-1990s, but closed in April 2019.[7]
Reed moved to San Jose, California and in 1968 again opened a shop named TOGO'S, this time at 336 East William Street near San Jose State University.[8][9] At that time, the sandwich shack (in a building built in 1919 and less than 1,000 square feet or 93 square metres) was so small that only four people at a time could be inside and the sign out front read "Sandwiches To Go", with "To Go" being on the second line.
In 1971, the shop was purchased by Mike Cobler, a local San Jose State University student.[10][11] The second TOGO'S location was opened in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1971 when Reed relocated after the sale of the San Jose location.[12] The third location opened in downtown San Jose in 1974. The first franchise was sold in 1978.[citation needed]
In 1997, TOGO'S was acquired by Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants, a precursor of Dunkin' Brands. By 2001, there were approximately 350 TOGO'S sandwich shops, serving more than 25 different types of sandwiches.[citation needed]
On November 30, 2007, TOGO'S was sold to Mainsail Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, in partnership with Tony Gioia, a former president of Baskin-Robbins.[13] Gioia served as chairman and chief executive officer of TOGO'S until his retirement in May 2017.[14] Mainsail sold the company to David Nazarian's Nimes Capital in December 2015.[15]
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