Quiznos closes ‘In the middle of the night’

By Tim Howsare

January 31, 2012 - 12:13 pm

Quiznos closes â��In the middle of the nightâ��

Quiznos Subs in the Fry's Marketplace has closed. Photo by Tim Howsare.

Quiznos Sub in the Fry’s Marketplace has closed its doors for the second time since opening in October 2005.

“They left in the middle of the night and took all the equipment,” said Bob Austin, a senior vice president with the Phoenix-based Barclay Group, property manager for Fry’s Marketplace.

Someone posted on the Maricopa Chat blog that they went to the restaurant on Sunday afternoon to eat, only to find it closed.

On Tuesday, there wasn’t a sign posted on the store’s window saying it was closed, but all the furnishings had been removed and floor was littered with bread crumbs and straw wrappers.

The franchise is owned by Maricopa resident Richard Tigner, who opened the store in June 2010 after it had closed in 2008. Tigner did not immediately return phone messages.

Austin said the franchise left owing money on its lease.

“Not often does a tenant leave in the middle of night and leave a check,” he said.

Austin said he still is calculating how much money is owed.

Austin said the furniture removed from the store belongs to the Quiznos corporation.

He said his company is working with corporate to find a new franchise owner.

Denver-based Quiznos has been struggling amid declining sales and a recent violation of debt terms over the summer, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

The sandwich chain reached a debt-restructuring deal with lenders that will hand ownership of the chain to Avenue Capital Group. The deal, approved by all Quiznos creditors, keeps the chain, known for toasted subs, out of bankruptcy court, the WSJ reported.

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6 comments

Not enough sandwich for the money.

Years ago, I was looking into franchising a sandwich shop: Subway, Blimpies, Quiznos, etc. From my research, and interviews, Quiznos had the worst reputation as a franchisor; the worst contract terms, the least support. I imagine that probably hasn't changed.

this is sad, my son been there for a year and a half and worked as a manager, the owner did not give pay raises, nor did he pay his employees by payroll, so now they cant even apply for unemployment, this man is truly a fraud and probably has skipped town, selling the equipment to a outsider is wrong, these young kids could of kept the store up and running, I pray you get what you deserve......your a fraud

Yes, their sandwiches are to expensive. Yes, Red Dawn, greed is going to kill our country. Corporations just don't get it.

Yes the owner did a bad thing and did ti all sneaky like.

That aside...... is this the same landlord as Teakwoods? Is anyone noticing a pattern here????? Maybe I'm just imagining it.

@Jest: it might be the same landlord, but this wasn't the landlord locking them out but the owner taking off in the middle of the night. There's a reason Quiznos are failing - and it's not just the one that's failed twice in Maricopa.