LIHUE — The last of the chicken, prime rib and turkey sub sandwiches will be wrapped up this week at Quiznos in the Kukui Grove Shopping Center. Owners of the restaurant said Tuesday they’re closing their doors. “I think it
LIHUE — The last of the chicken, prime rib and turkey sub sandwiches will be wrapped up this week at Quiznos in the Kukui Grove Shopping Center.
Owners of the restaurant said Tuesday they’re closing their doors.
“I think it was like a perfect, bad economic storm, with tourism being down and tourists making up more than half of our business,” said the local Quiznos owner Dave Lehn. “That, combined with the state of the economy overall, and that fact that Quiznos corporate has filed its second Chapter 11 in the past two years.”
Lehn and his wife took over ownership of the shop five years ago.
“The first time I walked through the door and looked around, I thought, ‘This is mine, and it’s going to be a good thing,’” he said. “And then slowly it has just worn down.”
Lehn said their busiest day was always Thursdays when the shuttles would bring business in from the cruise ships.
The high rent, high monthly franchise fees, and a high electric bill contributed to the downfall, according to Lehn.
“Owning a franchise has restrictions,” said Lehn. “You have to buy the food from the Mainland.”
When people in the community saw him wearing his Quiznos shirt, he said they often commented on how much they loved the toasted sandwiches, soups and salads.
“The staff has been great,” said Lehn. “Some of them have been there since the shop opened eight to 10 years ago.”
Lehn said Quiznos is at the high end of the fast food market as far as price goes, but with that price came fresh, not processed food, cut fresh daily.
Slowly, Quiznos stores in Hawaii have been shutting down on Maui and the Big Island. Nationwide, Lehn said the number of locations has dropped from 5,200 to less than 2,000, with only 1,000 of those in the United States and the remainder overseas.
“We had a customer come in last week from California who got our last bourbon steak sandwich,” said Lehn. “It was their favorite on the Mainland and since their neighborhood Quiznos closed there, they were happy to get one here.”
A spokesperson for the shopping center said they have not found a new tenant for the Quiznos space, but that within the next couple weeks will be releasing the names of additional retail occupants.
Wade Lord, general manager of the Kukui Grove Center, said the sandwich shop was a great business to have around.
“Quiznos has been a solid tenant in our mall for the past 10 years and we are sorry to see their departure,” Lord said in an email. “The recent announcement of the chain’s corporate bankruptcy is causing the closure of hundreds of stores nationally. We will make an announcement of a new food tenant within the next 30 days.”
The business filed for bankruptcy in February, which is expected to reduce its debt by $400 million, according to national reports.
The Kauai sub shop is selling the remainder of its product at reduced prices and whatever doesn’t sell today will be donated to the Kauai Food bank.
While Lehn said he and his wife spent a sizable amount of their savings running the store and never took a penny back, he said they still have their sense of humor. He will continue his 18-year commitment working for another company that manages a health care program for uninsured women.
