Fast food frenzy

June 23, 2004

Subway to increase options in Damascus

Damascus' super-sized fast food roster will continue to grow as a Subway franchise moves to Main Street later this year.

Subway franchisee Paul Hammer said the lease is signed and preparations to open the restaurant have commenced.

"We should be breaking ground pretty soon on the construction," Hammer said.

Subway will occupy half of the space previously used by the Damascus Post Office. Hammer hopes the restaurant will open about three months after construction begins.

While Subway will add to the variety of fast food restaurants in town, some people would like to see more than fast food and quick eats restaurants in Damascus.

Randy Scritchfield, chairman of the Damascus Community Alliance, said the community could use more variety in its restaurant options, and it will likely be necessary to repeal Damascus' status as a dry town to make that happen.

"Personally, I hope that someday a reasonable alcohol license in town would bring some different restaurants to us," he said. "I mean allowing sit-down service only ... I think that would really change what type of restaurants would come to town."

In the last few years, Burger King and KFC/Taco Bell have replaced vacant fast food locations along Ridge Road. Scritchfield called the town's fast food trends "cyclical."

"It seems like every time somebody leaves, somebody else plants his or her feet here," he said.

Scritchfield said Damascus used to have a Subway franchise 10 or 12 years ago.

For years, McDonald's was the only quick service restaurant in town. A need analysis commissioned by Burger King in 1998 demonstrated that the area was "under-serviced" by fast food.

"There are an insufficient number of quick service restaurants to serve the food needs of residents, commuters and employees in the area," Giegerich & Associates concluded.

But Craig Giangrande, the owner of the Damascus Burger King franchise that opened in 2002, said this is no longer the case.

"In 1998 there were two vacant quick service buildings in Damascus that were formerly occupied by Roy Rogers and Hardees," he said. The buildings are now occupied by Burger King and KFC/Taco Bell.

Giangrande said he has been "very pleased" by the Burger King's sales performance since it opened, but he expects the opening of a Subway to impact his sales figures.

"We expect a Subway restaurant to impact our sales," he said. "Damascus is a small community with a limited amount of customers, and the additional supply of quick service food will possibly be greater than the demand."

Walt McGee, a manager at the Damascus McDonald's, is more optimistic.

"Before I came to the Damascus McDonald's, I worked in Mount Airy, and we had a Subway open," he explained. "Something new comes in, and you're going to see an impact. But over the long haul our sales came back."

McGee said sales at the Damascus McDonald's were down 8 percent this time last year, but this year's sales are up 17 percent through April. Nationally, McDonald's sales have been soaring.

Hammer, the Subway franchisee, noted a distinction between his sub shop and traditional fast food restaurants.

"It's not like McDonalds where you can eat it once every couple of weeks, because you feel bad eating it," he said, calling Subway "a really healthy happy concept."

The new Subway will be located two doors down from Tom & Rays restaurant. Owner Jan Gladhill said the opening of Burger King and KFC/Taco Bell in recent years has only had a slight impact on her restaurant.

"I don't think it really mattered," she said. "It may have at lunchtime a little bit, because people just don't want to get out of their car, so they will [go to a] drive-through. But when people want to sit down, they'll come here."