Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Truly the "World's Best Cheesesteaks"

       Thank you to all of my readers for the great response to my "Ooh, Ooh Jerry's" post. Due to this overwhelming response, I wanted to share another Jerry's story with you.

       In the early days when I first started going to the Jerry's by my office I would often see a group of executives eating lunch there. I found out later that they were the heads of a large government contracting firm located in the office building next to the Jerry's restaurant. I discovered this because they came to tour another office building that I was leasing.

       The building I was leasing seemed perfect for their company. It was newer than their current building, would be less expensive for them to lease, had more amenities and was in a much better location. We had a deal, right? The owner of the building I was leasing sure thought we did. However, in the end they decided to stay in their current building.

       The owner of my building was incredulous. "How could we not get this deal?" he asked me. "Name one thing about my building that wasn't better than where they currently are." My answer stunned him: "There's no Jerry's."

       I explained to the owner how much those executives loved that Jerry's by their building. He refused to believe me, of course. He had lost a deal because his building didn't have a Jerry's next door? That was ridiculous. Interestingly enough, all those years later when I started eating at that Jerry's again who did I see? The founder of that government contracting company, a little grayer around the temples but otherwise exactly the same, holding court in his favorite spot with a couple of young executives.

      I found myself unconsciously humming the "Ooh, Ooh Jerry's" jingle, thinking about that building owner who had so refused to believe that those executives would choose Jerry's Subs and Pizza over his building.

- Ro

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