39 year old Subway restaurant closes

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A Subway restaurant that has been open since 1979 has closed after the franchisee failed to find a new franchisee to take over his restaurant. The landlord is willing to let Subway reopen in that spot if a new franchisee is found.

FROM MYRECORDJOURNAL.COM

One of state’s oldest Subway franchises closes in Meriden
By Matthew Zabierek, Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN â€" One of the state’s oldest Subway restaurants closed on the west side earlier this year  

The Subway location at 511 W. Main St. closed when its lease expired in July after 39 years, said landlord Dolores Gudain, who owns the former Subway store and three other units in the strip mall along West Main Street.

When former franchisee Jay Lala, who also owns the Subway on Chamberlain Highway in Meriden, decided he no longer wanted the West Main Street store, Subway tried to find another franchisee to take over the shop but was unsuccessful, Gudain said.

“They just said they can’t, that there was not the business here to support them spending the money to remodel this place to the new standards,” Gudain said. “They said they would keep looking but it’s very hard to do” when there’s not enough business to support it.

The West Main Street store became the 20th Subway in Connecticut when Paul Landino opened it in 1979, according to Gudain.

Lala, who now lives in Arizona, didn’t immediately return a request for comment made through a manager at the Chamberlain Highway Subway store Monday.

Gudain’s father, John, built four additional units at the West Main Street plaza in the 1950s, and in 1998 Gudain took over ownership of the units when her mother, Rose Marie, passed away.

Gudain said she has always had a great relationship with Subway and is “heartbroken” it is no longer there.

“I’m heartbroken that Subway left because they told me they were going to come in and redo the whole store and find a franchisee,” she said.  â€œ...I have the highest regard for Subway and always will. It’s just unfortunate that this happened. I think it’s an excellent spot for a business.”

The space is currently available to rent, but Gudain said if Subway found a franchisee she would welcome them back.

Subway’s website lists five other locations in Meriden, including one inside the Westfield Mall. The corporation confirmed earlier this year that it planned to close 500 stores across the U.S. in 2018. Subway, which has more locations globally than any other dining chain, was founded in Connecticut and opened its first franchise on Hall Avenue Wallingford in 1974.

Gudain would like to see another food business rent the space, like a wing or barbeque joint, but she said she’s “not opposed” to any business renting it.

“I think any business would do well here because of the visibility,” she said.  

mzabierek@record-journal.coM