Mohegans aim to open Central Mass. sub shops
The Mohegan Tribe of Uncasville, Conn., plans to open 10 sandwich shops in southern Worcester County and Rhode Island as the owners of the Mohegan Sun resort casino continue their to diversify their business holdings.
Jersey Mike’s Subs, based in New Jersey, awarded the tribe franchise territory covering the two regions. The first two shops will open in the next nine months. A spokesman for Jersey Mike’s, Kyle Potvin, said in an email Friday morning that the company is “actively” looking for sites in Worcester County and Rhode Island, but none have been selected yet.
The tribe, which operates three resort casinos, established a separate Mohegan Holding Company to diversify into non-gaming areas such as restaurants, wood pellets, manufacturing, and office solutions.
Jersey Mike’s only Massachusetts shop is in Raynham. The chain launched in 1956 and now has 1,300 restaurants either open or under development nationwide.
In November, the tribe opened a Smashburger location in Waterford, Conn., the first of 16 planned in southern New England. The tribe also plans to open 15 Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar in New England over the next four years. Arooga’s has locations in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
In 2013, the Mohegans tried unsuccessfully to land one of the Bay State’s three resort casino licenses. But voters in Palmer, where the casino would have been located, rejected the proposal. The tribe later attempted to gain a license for the Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston. But that proposal failed as well.
(Rick Saia of the WBJ staff contributed to this report.)
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