LEWISTON — Angry? Hurt? Starving for a Subway foot-long and just devastated by the news that the $5 promotion is no longer available?
Take it easy, my hungry friend. At least in the local area, a ‘hero’ has emerged to save the beloved $5 foot-long sandwich.
Two heroes, actually. David Grendell and Kim Wettlaufer, owners of the franchise stores in Lewiston, Auburn, Sabattus and Gray, announced Wednesday that they would continue offering the $5 foot-long.
“We have a lot of loyal customers,” Grendell said. “These are folks who come in several times a week. We want to take care of them.”
The news may come just in the nick of time for some who have become hooked on those 12 inches of bread, meat and veggies. When the end of the promotion was announced earlier this week, reaction was fierce. Some Subway customers begged the company to rethink their decision. Others ferociously demanded boycotts.
Grendell himself didn’t foresee such reaction, but when he switched on the nightly news, he saw just what was what.
“It was such a big event,” he said. “It was on TV. It was in the newspaper. It was national news. I was like, wow… it really hit a soft spot for people.'”
The $5 foot-long deal was introduced nationally in 2009. The deal was a megahit — within months, revenue from the foot-long was said to have approached $4 billion.
That came to an end Tuesday when the promotion ended. Sort of ended, anyway – Subway never insisted that each store end the promotion. Ultimately, they left it up to the franchise owners whether or not to keep it.
Grendell and Wettlaufer made a quick choice, and they believe that choice was the right one.
“For us, we’re in a small market, and we honestly want to make sure we take care of our customers the best we can,” Grendell said. “Offering a good value is one of the things that keeps us rolling strong.”
Subway staff, from left, Katelyn Hanscom, Conner Willard and Jennifer Dunning, work the sandwich line while Nadia Tag of Rumford waits for her food at the downtown Lewiston restaurant. (Sun Journal file photo)
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