You can say the owners of Champs Cheesesteaks and Hoagies are living out their dream as first-time business owners.
Nick and Heather have been married for 22 years. Nick has a background in culinary, sales, and law enforcement. Heather has a background as a technician in a hospital emergency room.
After a final straw at his previous job, Nick – with the support of Heather – decided to make the food establishment dream a reality.
“I’ve always wanted to own a food establishment business my whole life,” Nick said. “My father owned pizza shops [in Northeast Philly] as I was growing up. I really was raised in the business having worked with my dad since I was an 8-year-old kid cleaning pizza pans and making boxes.
“When I was a teenager, I did a lot more, in my late teens, I did even more and in my early 20s, I was in management and so forth.”
Nick learned the ins and outs of the food business from his father, also named Nick.
Money was the limiting factor that made it a dream.
“At the time when my father retired, I was still too young to really understand or have the money to buy his business,” Nick said. “He wasn’t just going to give it to me. My dad needed that money to retire on.”
So time went on until the final straw two weeks before Christmas 2023.
“I was a loan officer for a credit union,” Nick explained. “I’m not computer savvy at all. They upgraded their software and I wasn’t really understanding and my manager comes up to me and she says, ‘I don’t know how you got this far in life without knowing anything about it’ … very condescending.”
Nick quit his job at that moment.
“I told my wife I quit my job, it was two weeks before Christmas,” he recalled. “I wasn’t really thinking, I was too much in the emotion of it and my wife wasn’t happy. But I told her, ‘You know what, I’m done. I don’t care if I have to do Instacart, I’ll do Grubhub. I don’t care. I’m done working for people.’”
That is when the wheels started churning – rather quickly – on that back burner dream of owning a food establishment.
Driving around, Nick saw a For Rent sign on a storefront at 123 W Merchant Street in Audubon.
Nick and Heather signed the lease to the storefront on Jan. 14. They opened in February.
“My wife and I were here until 5 o’clock in the morning sometimes getting this store ready because we didn’t have the luxury of saying ‘Ok, we can put this off for six months,’” Nick said. “We have a mortgage, we have a family, I have bills to pay … the sooner we could start making money, we can stop the bleeding.”
And that’s what they did. A friend helped build the counter tops and put the football field on the wall.
Let’s talk about the vision of Champs, which for a long time was going to be a football-themed pizza place named Touchdowns.
However, with pizza places close by on either side of their location, Nick and Heather had to pivot. One thing remained – “I have to do something to stand out.”
“We decided to go the whole Philly route,” Nick said. “We got Herr’s potato chips. We have tried to get TastyKakes here. We have Amoroso’s rolls.
“I have a play list we play during the day, it has the theme to “Rocky,” it has pictures of the [Philadelphia Museum of Art], it has the Liberty Bell, it has Eagles’ clips.
“It has all Philly stuff playing all day long.”
Heather thought of the name Champs and it stuck. Nick thought of focusing on the Eagles.
“I got the idea for an Eagles theme as I was driving to work,” Nick relayed. “For some reason, former Eagle Shawn Andrews popped into my head. I don’t know why and I was just like, ‘I wonder whatever happened to Shawn Andrews, he was a good player.’”
After a quick Google search, he learned Andrews owns a movie-themed smoothie shop in Haddonfield.
“You go, get a smoothie, meet Shawn Andrews … that would be pretty cool,” Nick said, asking himself why Andrews didn’t pick a Philadelphia Eagles’ theme for his smoothie shop.
And that is how the Eagles’ theme came about. And as big fans, it has been a plus.
“Champs is very different from anywhere else,” Nick said, noting they go straight to a butcher for their meats. “We have a 10-ounce rib eye, a 16-ounce rib eye and we may or may not have a secret menu where we offer a 24-ounce rib eye.
“I can’t confirm or deny such a secret menu.” Wink, wink!
They use Cooper Sharp American or Wiz cheese and either plain or seeded rolls.
“We marinate our product,” Nick said, saying it’s their “own secret marinate.” “We put a lot of thought into our cheesesteaks alone. We also have half pound angus burgers on brioche buns. We have quarter pound hot dogs right from Dietz & Watson.
“They are the same ones you get when you go watch the Eagles at the Linc [Lincoln Financial Field],” Nick said.
Hoagies come jam packed with 15 to 20 slices depending on weight. Hot dogs can come with mac and cheese, cheese fries, and/or bacon bits on top.
“They are pretty exotic … we try really hard to stand out,” Nick said.
Not only with food items themselves, but the creative food names such as The Dallas Sucks burger, the David Akers’ hot dog, the Jason Kelce sandwich, No One Likes Us hot sandwich and the Philly Jawn. • The Dallas Sucks Burger – made with a fried egg in the sandwich.
• David Akers’ Hot Dog – grilled hotdog topped with Mac ‘n Cheese and mozzarella.
• Jason Kelce – designed by Jason Kelce himself – Genoa Salami, Pastrami, Roast Beef, Bacon, sharp Cheese, Horseradish Pickles and Stone Ground Mustard.
• No One Likes Us hot sandwich – pizza fries on a long roll with crispy chicken and hot sauce.
• Philly Jawn – Cooper Sharp Cheese, Cheese Wiz, Amoroso Roll, 10-ounce rib-eye steak.
Nick said they have yet to have an Eagle sighting. He said it’s been hard to get in touch with the Eagle organization. At a David Akers’ signing, Nick had Akers sign a menu and told the retired placekicker about the hot dog.
“He’s like, ‘That sounds delicious’ so I’m still waiting for him to try it,” Nick said.
At Champs, you can find Nick and Heather during the daytime hours. They also have three other cooks, who wear many hats.
“To get hired here, it’s not easy,” Nick said, noting his 10-year experience in the culinary business from managing the banquet and restaurant at Double Tree Hotel in northeast Philadelphia to a sous chef at Moshulu and TJ Smith’s Restaurant and Bar. “I understand and know the kitchen.
“… I can fill every position; I can cook my menu. When we first opened, it was just my wife and I. Two days later we hired our first cook.
“I always tell these guys, I don’t care if you are faster or better than me, you’re here because I don’t have to be.”
At Champs, they can make “whatever the customer wants.” A regular customer comes in every week and orders a vegetarian sandwich filled with mushrooms, green peppers, fried onions, and Provolone cheese.
A regular customer told Nick that their mac n’ cheese could be better. So with a bit of research, Nick invited the customer back to try a new and improved mac n’ cheese.
“He loved it,” he said, noting its important to “listen to your customers.”
That’s how they decided to add the Philly Jawn and half cheesesteak to the menu. Top sellers have been the cheesesteak, hand-breaded chicken parm and the jumbo wings marinated in their secret Philly special sauce.
Open about nine months, Champs is constantly evolving coming up with “fun and interesting things.”
They cater school events to house parties. Nick and Heather attend tailgates to introduce themselves and provide samples of their menu.
“We’ve met some great people and made a lot of great friends,” Nick said, adding he loves how people gather at their location to watch highlights and talk about sports.
“You really feel like you’re amongst friends while visiting Champs.”
They tried delivery and online delivery, which did not work out. So for your next meal, pick up the phone and be sure to look out on their Facebook page for specials.
Champs has become a tourist destination and now offers tourist packages, which includes a T-shirt with Philly slogans and a cheesesteak for just $29.95. — 08108
