Countdown on for Jack in the Box’s Pahrump debut

The final touches are being put on the Jack in the Box restaurant under construction on Highway 160, with an expected opening date at the end of August.

Louise Velasco, district manager for Jack in the Box, said he is anticipating a large turnout with 100 to 150 guests lined up and waiting at 640 S. Highway 160, between China Wok Buffet and Tire Works, on opening day.

The day hasn’t been set yet but is anticipated to be some time during the week of Aug. 28.

Velasco said he is expecting a similar scene to the opening day of Carl’s Jr. in March 2010 — the last time a national fast food brand moved into the Pahrump area.

Crews for Las Vegas-based CM Builders, the contracting company working on the restaurant, have been moving along since ground was broken in the second half of May at the more than one-acre site.

The restaurant is already filled with equipment such as fryers, oven hoods and grills, Velasco said.

“We’re working on the dining room décor,” Velasco said. “We’ve got to do the parking lot still.”

Construction crews began work on paving the parking lot on Monday.

Inside the numbers

Jyoti Madhura, franchisee for Jack in the Box’s Pahrump location, purchased the site in January 2016 for $600,000 under Trio Desert Investments LLC, Nye County property records show.

When the Pahrump location opens, Madhura will own and operate 15 Jack in the Box restaurant locations in Las Vegas and Pahrump, including one adjacent to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas near Tropicana Avenue and Maryland Parkway.

The Pahrump store will employ about 60 people to work as cooks, drive-thru order takers, cashiers and other positions, with some already hired.

Velasco said he’s already hired about 30 and plans to hire the same amount in the coming weeks.

Eight other national fast-food brands are in the Pahrump area: Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Carl’s Jr. and Sonic.

Jack in the Box Inc.—parent company of Jack in the Box restaurants and Qdoba, a fast-casual Mexican chain—had $357.8 million in revenue for the third quarter. That was down more than 3 percent from the same time last year, when revenue was $$368.9 million.

Franchise-owned stores for Jack in the Box stores performed better than company-owned locations during the quarter. Revenue at Jack in the Box’s franchise-owned locations grew by 2.3 percent for same-store sales — a measurement of locations that have been open for a year or longer.

Revenue for same-store sales on company-owned stores fell 1.1 percent during the third quarter.

Jack in the Box Inc. is projecting same-store revenue to fall between a decrease of 2 percent to flat growth in the fourth quarter for all its Jack in the Box locations.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes