However, by the turn of the 2000s, Blimpie International was struggling. Net income had fallen steadily throughout the second half of the 1990s. A main factor in this decline was that the subfranchiser rights to the Blimpie Subs chain had largely been sold by the mid-1990s, thus bringing a halt to what had been a steady stream of income. As Blimpie's struggles continued, investors showed little interest in the company, and the price of the company's stock sagged. Seeing little benefit in being a publicly traded firm, Blimpie joined the growing ranks of restaurant companies fleeing the public market. In October 2001 a private investor group led by Jeffrey K. Endervelt, owner of the 44-unit Blimpie of California subfranchise, agreed to buy Blimpie International for $25.7 million. The transaction was completed in January 2002, whereupon Endervelt took over as chairman, president, and chief executive officer, and Conza, a partner in the investor group, remained in an advisory capacity. In 2006, Kahala Corp. acquired Blimpie, and it became the tenth brand franchised by the franchisor.