Omaha Exploration

The son of a taxi driver, Sid Wertheim moved to Omaha in 1957 after landing a sales job. Growing up in Brooklyn, he feasted on submarine sandwiches, so he was shocked to find that such restaurants were nearly nonexistent in the area. He set out to change that after he quit the sales job that brought him to Omaha in the first place.

Sid always had a desire to work for himself, so he and his wife Barbara bought an east coast sandwich franchise called Little King. Based on The Little King comic created by Otto Soglow in 1930, the parent company, King Features, syndicated it while the New Yorker had the original rights.

They opened the sandwich shop on 8024 Dodge Street in 1968. After the first week, the franchisee never heard from the parent company even though he paid the necessary fees. Frustrated with the lack of support, Sid eventually called a meeting with the other 15 or so franchise owners. Discovering that they had also received nothing in return, they all agreed to break away from the corporate office.

While Sid was not sure of the fate of the other locations, he would go on to create a corporation of his own. To avoid legal trouble, he hired an advertising firm to develop a new look for the king, which was quite a bit different from the original character. That got him into hot water with Burger King, which thought his new king looked a little too familiar to their own. In a true match of David vs. Goliath, or in this case Little King vs. Burger King, Sid fought back and won.

The Little King proved to be quite popular with its freshly sliced bread, meats, and cheeses, in addition to fresh garnishes including tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. When Sid began selling his own franchises, it got the attention of the parent company, which demanded royalties. Not one to take kindly to a threat, Sid responded that his restaurant would be just as successful if he changed the name to “Big Bob’s” or something similar. Even though he never heard back from them, he did patent his rendering of the Little King.

The chain grew rapidly at that point, peaking with 100 locations by 1990, including a few in California and Florida. Perhaps tired of running such a large corporation, Sid sold all but 12 Omaha restaurants to Arizona-based Mammoth Resources in 1991. After the headquarters moved to Arizona, the company fell on hard times, which led to legal disputes and ended with filing Chapter 11. Sid was saddened to see the result of his hard work over the previous 24 years go downhill so quickly. He was determined to step in and return the king to glory. He was the highest bidder during bankruptcy proceedings and took over in 1993.

He returned the corporate headquarters to Omaha and continued to operate the chain for another four years. When he sold it for a second time in 1997, there were just 45 locations remaining. Its new owner, NY-based Jreck Subs Group, operated 180 sandwich shops and planned to expand even further with the acquisition. Under Jreck’s ownership, Little King continued to struggle. About two years after the sale, the Wertheims bought back their shares with 25 locations remaining. Their goal was to sell off the corporate stores and operate as a franchise company, and that is exactly what they did. In 2001, Sid retired and Bob Wertheim took over running the company.

I am not entirely sure what happened after that, but Omaha-based Lockwood Development bought Little King from Bob in 2021. With no experience in the restaurant industry, Lockwood said in an interview with the Omaha World-Herald that it felt right for something they could help revive, calling it one of those great Omaha companies with a strong reputation and plenty of room to grow.

With that, the king is prepared to make yet another comeback from its seven locations and primed to add two more. He has proven over the last 50 years that he is nothing if not resilient.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy my content, you can follow or subscribe on my Facebook page, signup to receive emails or make a donation on my website. Thank you and until next time, keep exploring!

Follow me on

• Facebook
• Instagram

Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Lincoln Journal-Star archives
• Grand Island Independent archives
• https://strictlybusinessomaha.com/news/business/little-king-celebrates-50-years/