As obesity rates attest, people will eat just about anytime and anywhere there’s food. Grocery stores have figured out that people will even eat while they shop for groceries. Subhash Patel figured it out too.
He owns a Quiznos in Glencoe Crossing on Washtenaw and says, “I noticed they have a McDonald’s inside the Meijer on Carpenter, so I approached Meijer corporate a few years ago and asked if I could open a Quiznos in the Jackson Meijer. They told me that it wasn’t an option at the moment, but then I talked to Quiznos corporate and told them what I wanted to do.”
Quiznos listened. Eventually, the two companies and Patel were all on the same page, and Patel’s second Quiznos opened in early October, right where he’d pictured it, inside the Jackson Meijer. He says he’s also been given the green light to put a Quiznos in the Carpenter Meijer and maybe even more in the future.
Patel isn’t intimidated by corporate–he used to be corporate. Before opening his first Quiznos eight years ago, he worked for McDonald’s as a general manager, running some company-owned stores in Michigan. Lithe and energetic, with a Bluetooth clip in his ear, he looks younger than his forty-two years. Walking into his two-day-old Quiznos with his arms full of boxes of supplies and seeing a crowd, he swiftly dumped the load, took over the cash register, and got the lunchtime throng under control, all while pleasantly offering to sit down for an interview.
Known for its grilled sandwiches and its economical one-word slogan “Toasty!” Quiznos is testing a breakfast menu (basically using scrambled eggs and breakfast meats as sandwich fillings). Mostly, Patel says, you’ll find Quiznos trying breakfast in “their high-traffic markets like malls and airports. We’re doing it here too. Meijer’s insisted on it. They wanted it for their employees.”
Quiznos, 5645 Jackson Rd. (inside Meijer), 913-2671. Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
