Usually, when four guys grow up together in the same neighborhood, they dream of one day forming a rock band, or playing together on a sports team. But a hoagie shop?

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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Actually, it's not a hoagie, it's a Primo and I can tell you firsthand from my years of working in Philadelphia, that Primo Hoagies are the best! They are now open in Sea Isle City in the same location as my old Coffee Dot Comedy — 29 Kennedy Blvd., a half a block from the beach right in the center of town.

Primo's in Sea Isle is owned by James Rosas:

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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"I have owned the store since May of 2020, this is my third summer coming up. I’m from Port Richmond, Philadelphia and I come from a small family but a very close family. I have a brother who also works for Primo's and plans on buying his own store one day".

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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Some background on James:

"I attended St. Joe’s Prep for high school and then Holy Family University for college but ended up dropping out when I had the chance to buy the business. I started to work at Primo Hoagies when I was about 16 years old. I started in Ardmore Pa, then during the summer would work between the North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest stores."

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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When it comes to Primo's, James has been around:

"I worked at many Primo locations throughout the years and continued to build relationships with the people I worked with and for. One day I was talking to my old boss and he told me that if I wanted to try to buy the Sea Isle store that it’s up for sale. At first, I was hesitant, but after thinking about it I knew I had to take a chance and go for it, so I did."

And he did it with his boys:

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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"My employees/coworkers are Michael Hall, Mark Mooney, and John Enslin. We’re all from the same neighborhood and even crazier we all went to the same grade school growing up. Michael and Mark are two years younger than me and were in my brother's class and Johnny is a couple of years younger than them."

Photo by Steve Trevelise
Photo by Steve Trevelise
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So based on all that background and experience, what makes Primo's so good?

"I think what makes a Primo Hoagies so good is that the product we use is high quality but what really makes it great is the people making the sandwiches actually care about the customer. We want to make their experience as satisfying as possible and always want to come back for more!"

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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