Jack in the Box restaurant nears Pahrump debut

A Jack in the Box restaurant, planned for Pahrump, is on the cusp of opening.

Louise Velasco, district manager for Jack in the Box, said the restaurant, at 640 S. Highway 160, could be open as early as Thursday. The project broke ground the second half of May.

At this point, the décor and signage has been attached to the front of the building and a large sign, which sits closer to the highway, has been raised.

Management at the restaurant previously estimated the store’s opening at the end of August, as previously reported by the Pahrump Valley Times on Aug. 16.

At that time, management was expecting long lines to form outside the newly-opened establishment, with estimates upward of 100 to 150 guests, as this is the first Jack in the Box restaurant in the area.

A similar scene occurred in 2010 when Carl’s Jr. opened its first location in Pahrump, Velasco said at the time.

That was also the last time a national fast food brand opened in the local area.

Once open, Jack in the Box will join many other national fast food chains already having a local presence: Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Sonic and the Carl’s Jr.

How the brand got to Pahrump

The store is being spearheaded by Jyoti Madhura, who already owns and operates 15 Jack in the Box locations in the Las Vegas area.

One of those locations is near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, just north of Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue.

Madhura purchased the vacant lot for the Pahrump location in January 2016 for $600,000 under Trio Desert Investments LLC, property records at Nye County show.

According to Velasco, at the time of the last report in the Pahrump Valley Times, the store will employee about 60 people for several positions: cooks, drive-thru order takers, cashiers and other positions. The restaurant had hired about half of that number at that time.

Revenue was down for the second quarter for Jack in the Box Inc., the parent company of Jack in the Box restaurants and Qdoba, a fast-casual Mexican chain. Revenue for corporate-owned stores was $357.8 million in the third quarter of 2017 — down 3 percent from the same time in 2016, which had a revenue of $368.9 million.

Franchisee-owned Jack in the Box stores saw an increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2017, which grew by 2.3 percent. That doesn’t include stores open for less than 12 months.

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