After four years, Quizno’s sandwich shop on East Beaver Avenue in State College is officially closing it’s doors.
“It’s a tough economy right now,” says Nick Savereno, owner of the restaurant that will be shutting down for good Thursday evening. “A lot of people are upset.”
As part of the reason for closing, Savereno says the business landscape in a college town is difficult to navigate, noting the constant flux in population due to the frequent traveling of Penn State students.
“State College is tough for business, mostly due to the student cycling,” says Savereno, who first opened the store back in June 2010. “You have seven months of good business, and then five months are spotty, due to summer break, and holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.”
Savereno, who also works on campus at Penn State as manager of Findlay Dining Commons in East Halls, says the strain of working two jobs while he and his wife take care of their two-year old daughter proved to be too much to handle. Even if the store had a more accessible location, rather than in the middle of a busy downtown street, he believes the business would still most likely have suffered the same fate.
“Maybe if we were on the North Atherton corridor, it wouldn’t be an issue,” says Savereno, “but the offset in traffic would have been affected by the rent.”
In addition to local issues, Savereno was responsible for managing a franchise under the direction of a company that has been struggling financially for years. In 2006, Quiznos boasted more than 5,000 locations across the country, but due to controversial franchisee plans, there are only 1,000 locations today.
According to a recent article by the New York Post, Quiznos, owned by global investment firm Avenue Capital, is operating with about $600 million in debt.
While disappointed he has to step away from the franchise, Savereno says he was overwhelmed to see the outpouring of support and good wishes from customers and fans, both in the store and on social media.
“It’s tough to see my friends go,” says Savereno. “We’ve gotten to know a lot of good people downtown.”
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