HOME TOWN HERO.

AFTER BORROWING $125,000 TO BUY HIS LOCAL SUB SHOP AT AGE 17, PETER CANCRO HAS BUILT JERSEY MIKE'S INTO ONE OF AMERICA'S FASTEST-GROWING RESTAURANT CHAINS, WITH NEARLY $4 BILLION IN SALES. NOW THE MULTIBILLIONAIRE FACES A BIG DECISION: CASH OUT OR STAY HUNGRY?

- JEMIMA MCEVOY

PETER CANCRO ROLLS UP THE SLEEVES of his blue Brooks Brothers oxford and steps into the first position on the sandwich assembly line. With a practiced flick of the wrist, the 67-year-old owner and CEO of Jersey Mike's zips a knife clean through a freshly baked 15-inch loaf. To his right, an employee in a navy apron works a block of pink meat against a slicer. They're making the Cancro Special, a layer of provolone topped with a towering pile of roast beef and pepperoni, sprinkled with shredded lettuce and tomato, then slathered with the chain's signature mix of oil, vinegar and oregano. Every sub at Jersey Mike's is made this way: fresh, in front of customers, with high-quality meat sliced or grilled to order. "You go around the country and nobody is doing this," Cancro boasts as he neatly wraps his lunch in parchment.