Subway Sandwich Shop on SO Ave?

I noticed that the other day. The Indian restaurant next to it is empty as well.

I read somewhere that the Subway is closed, that store is up for lease, but an employee has said that it may move to another location.

Re: why, it's always the same list of possibilities: rent got too high, or revenues/traffic weren't enough, or space wasn't maintained well, or some combination.

We are fortunate in our area to have some excellent places to get great sandwiches of all kinds. Why would one go to Subway?

Probably kicking tenants out to build condos.

qrysdonnell said:
Probably kicking tenants out to build condos.

Why do you think this?

JBennett said:

qrysdonnell said:
Probably kicking tenants out to build condos.

Why do you think this?

Just wild random Internet speculation. And from having lived in Manhattan. Generally when a lot of businesses in an area were going out of business someone was trying to build condos there. Granted it's a bit of a different real estate market.

It could just be the landlord having unreal expectations for all I know. I just figured I'd go straight into 'worse-case scenario' territory!

Per the email I just got from SOVCA there is a new restaurant coming into the Neelam space

if you've walked by what was formally Neelam near Village Hall you may
have noticed that there's a lot of work going on in that space. That's
because a brand new Indian restaurant is coming to South Orange! Naan
Indian Grill will be soon be occupying that space, and they hope to be
open in December. They are undergoing a complete renovation of the
space, and from everything I've heard, we should be in for a real treat!

So I guess no condos...........

Does anyone know why Neelam went under? Was the food bad? Not trying to be negative toward the new place, but if an Indian restaurant couldn't make it in that space, why would another Indian restaurant do any better?

relx said:
Does anyone know why Neelam went under? Was the food bad? Not trying to be negative toward the new place, but if an Indian restaurant couldn't make it in that space, why would another Indian restaurant do any better?

Many of us tried neelam once, never went back, and continued to wonder why it was still there. Would be thrilled to get better Indian here!

bramzzoinks said:
We are fortunate in our area to have some excellent places to get great sandwiches of all kinds. Why would one go to Subway?

I recall my mother telling me something like "If I didn't have anything nice to say don't....."

Anywho, Their employees were relocated to other stores and the owner is looking to open somewhere else. Told me the rent kept climbing, he was done coughing up more $$.

FYI, I happen to like Subway. Sure they don't give you a heaping massive sandwich but it's ok to not have heaping massive sandwich. I know that no matter what I get, I'll not go over a certain amount of calories, this is a good thing. Also, I'm always on the go, my lunch breaks aren't really lunch breaks so I'm in and out quickly.

susan1014 said:

relx said:
Does anyone know why Neelam went under? Was the food bad? Not trying to be negative toward the new place, but if an Indian restaurant couldn't make it in that space, why would another Indian restaurant do any better?

Many of us tried neelam once, never went back, and continued to wonder why it was still there. Would be thrilled to get better Indian here!

I went for lunch once, which was a buffet. I thought the food was fine, nothing special. But the place was a dump. If they are completely renovating the place and they re-open with good food, they should flourish.

is everything "specific type of food and GRILL" now? I drive about 300 miles a day and counted 75 places one day that had "grill" in their name. Everything from "bagels and grill" to "sushi and grill" i ***** you not.

susan1014 said:

relx said:
Does anyone know why Neelam went under? Was the food bad? Not trying to be negative toward the new place, but if an Indian restaurant couldn't make it in that space, why would another Indian restaurant do any better?

Many of us tried neelam once, never went back, and continued to wonder why it was still there. Would be thrilled to get better Indian here!

I never tried it. It always looked empty and outdated, and I like Indian food generally. I just didn't want to go there.

ace789nj said:

bramzzoinks said:
We are fortunate in our area to have some excellent places to get great sandwiches of all kinds. Why would one go to Subway?

I recall my mother telling me something like "If I didn't have anything nice to say don't....."
Anywho, Their employees were relocated to other stores and the owner is looking to open somewhere else. Told me the rent kept climbing, he was done coughing up more $$.
FYI, I happen to like Subway. Sure they don't give you a heaping massive sandwich but it's ok to not have heaping massive sandwich. I know that no matter what I get, I'll not go over a certain amount of calories, this is a good thing. Also, I'm always on the go, my lunch breaks aren't really lunch breaks so I'm in and out quickly.

It is not size. The ingredients all sit around pre sliced and pre made in what looks like a state of fossilization. The bread is mushy and tasteless. Subway is to sandwiches as Domino's is to pizza.

Yuck. I would rather eat at McDonald's than Subway, and believe me, I'm in no hurry to eat at McDonald's. Cheap, slimy processed meat, wilted veggies, spongey sugar-packed bread...gross. Everything tastes like chemicals and plastic. There's a reason they can sell that crap for almost nothing. In a new world of Panera, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, etc., Subway is in a lot of trouble.

imonlysleeping said:
Yuck. I would rather eat at McDonald's than Subway, and believe me, I'm in no hurry to eat at McDonald's. Cheap, slimy processed meat, wilted veggies, spongey sugar-packed bread...gross. Everything tastes like chemicals and plastic. There's a reason they can sell that crap for almost nothing. In a new world of Panera, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, etc., Subway is in a lot of trouble.

Can't disagree with this. Yuck.

imonlysleeping said:
Yuck. I would rather eat at McDonald's than Subway, and believe me, I'm in no hurry to eat at McDonald's. Cheap, slimy processed meat, wilted veggies, spongey sugar-packed bread...gross. Everything tastes like chemicals and plastic. There's a reason they can sell that crap for almost nothing. In a new world of Panera, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, etc., Subway is in a lot of trouble.

45,000 thousand locations worldwide and the world's largest restaurant operator. Must be doing something right.

The person who eats only Subway easily outlives the person who only eats McDonald's.

Freeway said:

imonlysleeping said:
Yuck. I would rather eat at McDonald's than Subway, and believe me, I'm in no hurry to eat at McDonald's. Cheap, slimy processed meat, wilted veggies, spongey sugar-packed bread...gross. Everything tastes like chemicals and plastic. There's a reason they can sell that crap for almost nothing. In a new world of Panera, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, etc., Subway is in a lot of trouble.

45,000 thousand locations worldwide and the world's largest restaurant operator. Must be doing something right.

Not really. Their brand is stale and there are now a lot of options that didn't exist a decade ago. They're trying to figure out how to adapt, but so far nothing much is working and they've been struggling.

"According to research firm Technomic, in 2014 Subway’s U.S. sales declined 3.3 percent from the previous year, to 1.9 billion. That drop was the worst among the big fast-food chains. Average annual sales per store fell from $490,000 in 2013 to $475,000 last year.

For almost two decades, Subway had essentially the same business plan: Open more locations while positioning itself as the healthier fast-food choice. But it hasn’t kept up with the changing expectations of diners, especially younger ones, in the past couple of years."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-07-09/jared-isn-t-subway-s-only-problem

a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

Freeway said:
a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

That's one possible response, I guess. Or you could try, "Oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing that deeply informed story from a leading business publication. I have learned something."

I predict 5 years, barring total image overhaul. Jared F's horrifying self is not helping.

Freeway said:
a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

imonlysleeping said:

Freeway said:
a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

That's one possible response, I guess. Or you could try, "Oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing that deeply informed story from a leading business publication. I have learned something."

I've got another response if you'd like....

orzabelle said:
I predict 5 years, barring total image overhaul. Jared F's horrifying self is not helping.

Freeway said:
a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

And e-coli is doing Chipotle no favors.

is Chipotle suffering as a business, or growing?

Chipotle has seen explosive growth for years but lately the pace has slowed. It's still growing, though.

I think an improved Subway would see explosive growth. Specifically, as others stated, the bread is tasteless, the cold cuts sub par and the vegetables, while fresh, seem to lack quality. I still eat there, but I'm never excited about it. It's more like the lesser of other evil choices.

For what it's worth, I've been known to eat a sandwich from time to time and while there are plenty of Subway establishments that produce substandard product I went to this Subway a few times and found it to be one of the better ones. The ingredients were always fresh and crisp.

As a vegetarian, sometimes Subway is an option better than some independent places. For example, I haven't bothered with the Town Hall Deli as there are no vegetarian options featured on the menu. Sure, I'd imagine if I walked in there and asked them to make me something in particular they might do it, but I'm probably not likely to get anything exciting. At Subway I can at least always get the veggie patty sandwich. Which is a bit strange, but is a tad more filling than just veggies and at least a little different than just loading on cheese (not that there's anything wrong with cheese!).

Freeway said:

orzabelle said:
I predict 5 years, barring total image overhaul. Jared F's horrifying self is not helping.

Freeway said:
a 3.3% dip in sales!!!?!?!?! When should we expect the chain to fold?

And e-coli is doing Chipotle no favors.

imonlysleeping said:
Chipotle has seen explosive growth for years but lately the pace has slowed. It's still growing, though.

Well, e-coli does tend to have that effect...