- Subway will occupy the storefront that’s currently covered in white plywood, between the new Hunky’s and TapeLenders.
A representative from Subway restaurants confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the sandwich shop chain has signed a lease to open a store on the Cedar Springs strip, at the site of the old Crossroads Market. The Subway store will occupy the space between Hunky’s, which is moving across Throckmorton Street to the corner of the newly renovated building, and TapeLenders. Hunky’s will be in the portion of the Crossroads building that was devoted to the coffee shop, while Subway will be in the area that was devoted to the bookstore. Monica Infante, a manager in Subway’s Northeast Texas development office, said the new store likely will open in the next 90 days.
Scott Whittall, co-owner of Buli Cafe and president of the Cedar Springs Merchants Association, said Subway wasn’t exactly on his wish list of new retailers for the strip.
“It’s not really a competition thing, it’s more of a chain thing,” Whittall said. “Cedar Springs has had boutique- type, single-owner, gay-owned stores on it for years and years and years, but I guess it’s just a fact we have to deal with. Chains are out there, and I guess it was just inevitable that we would get one of two. We can’t control what comes in and out of the street. We can only hope they add to the neighborhood and add to the traffic.”
Infante said Subway has been looking to open a store on Cedar Springs for about 10 years, because it’s a heavily populated area that is underserved by the chain.
“Knowing the history behind Cedar Springs, I think it will be something positive,” Infante said. “Hopefully once it does open people will be as excited as we are about it.”
Isn’t there a Subway about 3 blocks from there on Oak Lawn?
There is a Subway on Oak Lawn and Lemmon, less than a half mile away! I wouldn’t question the need for a Subway so close to another one if I didn’t work downtown, where there are seemingly more Subways than Starbucks.
You’ve gotta be bloody kidding me!
I live less than 2 blocks from the Subway on Oaklawn and I don’t even go to that one. Why would I go to this one?
Wish it were Jimmy John’s instead…
Lets just pray that they do something nice with the store front.
The last thing I want to see is a Big Ugly Yellow Sign on such a beautiful street, surly they will try to dress it up to match the character of the street.
With it being a chain I doubt they will put much effort in fitting in, but here is to hoping.
I wouldn’t come down too hard on Subway. After all, it’s a good thing that they want to open a business here. Getting in and out of their Oak Lawn/Lemmon store can be a nightmare, and this is a much calmer street. Maybe they’ll even be a good neighbor and participate in First Wednesdays, the Pride Parade, etc.
And let’s not forget that Red Mango, The UPS Store and Cafe Brazil are chains (even Hunky’s and Beyond the Box, when you think about it).
Would you rather have that space empty or occupied? I don’t see store owners running to get these empty spaces, appreciate that a ‘chain’ wants to occupy the space. And Caven Enterprises is a chain..why are you complaining about chains? People like to eat, the more options you have to eat in this area, the more people will show up…Black Eyed Peas, another chain is disguisting with all the roaches around, I would rather eat Subway than Black Eye Pea.
Cedar Springs can never be happy, always complaining about something!
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I totally agree that Cedar Springs is not lacking as far as chains but where is next closest Red Mango, Cafe Brazil, Black Eye Pea, or Zini’s? There’s a Red Mango in Uptown (far enough away). There’s a Cafe Brazil and Zini’s in Deep Ellum (far enough away). There’s a Hunky’s in Bishop Arts (further away). There’s a BEP around lovers and greenville (even further) and there’s a Subway on Oaklawn/Lemmon and Wycliff/Tollway (pretty darn close). Just saying 🙂
Big mistake. Or so it would appear. We Dallasites like to be able to park our cars, get out and walk right in the front door of wherever we’re going, be it a department store, restaurant, night club, movie theater, health club or whatever. That’s what we’re accustomed to and that’s what we expect. Parking has always been a problem in the retail section of Cedar Springs. (Granted, more of a problem in the evening hours than the daytime hours, but there’s no surplus of parking spaces regardless of the time of day you’re there). If a business is too difficult to get into and out of, most Dallas folk will simply go elsewhere. It’ll be interesting to see how this one fares with the limited street parking that’s available. But then, perhaps they’re counting on the overflow business from Hunky’s.
I’ve heard this store is locally owned by a member of the community and that the plan is to customize this Subway to meet the unique and upscale customer base. Can’t wait to see the design.
yeah….i think the parking is the bigger issue here. that and i’m not happy to see another “chain” open up on the strip, especially a subway. what’s next? mcdonalds?. i think i’ll go eat at buli more often as my own form of silent protest.
Would you prefer it be a head shop? Heck, the Gas Pipe is “local” but would you want it there? Probably not. What if the franchise owner was gay? Would it then make a difference? Just don’t eat there if you don’t like it. Money talks, and if the Subway doesn’t make money, they’ll leave and replace it with something else.
If anything this should just drive more traffic to the strip, particularly during the middle of the day, which is relatively light on traffic anyway.
There have been vacant storefronts on the strip for years, so I’m just glad some entity is investing in the location, even if it is a big chain like Subway. Most gayborhoods in big cities across the country have a mix of privately owned establishments and chains. This way, if people were going to eat at Subway anyway, they can patronize the one right in the heart of the gayborhood and check out everything else going on here.
I don’t see them as a major threat to the existing competitors closest by. Subway’s value proposition is being able to offer low-priced, healthy sandwiches that are ready instantly and can be eaten on the run. It just doesn’t compare to a meal or cup of coffee at Buli or a Hunky’s hamburger.
Chains do an incredible amount of research and forecasting when it comes to deciding where to put new locations. I think it shines a really positive light on the neighborhood and its future.
Now if we could just fix the parking situation…
I agree with the parking comment… I’d love to spend more time in the different shops but when you drive a long Nissan Frontier LE truck you have limits on where you can park. What I could never understand is why Cavin didn’t consider building a darn parking garage and if they needed to charge for the parking put a silly parking meter in each spot at lest it would encourage more buyers to some assuming they’re not gonna rape you for the parking charges.
Big cities in the east do this all over the place.. You just pull in, park, put coins in the meter and you’re good. If you run out of time and you abuse it, a wonderful cop in a golf cart gives you a ticket to greet you before you leave.
I’m glad to see it coming. Variety is key whether that be local boutique shops, chains or simply a mixture of both. Yes there are other Subways not too far away, but I don’t visit them because the area that I like to be and hang out on is Cedar Springs. I welcome it.
You can’t please everyone so quit bitching.
Tapelenders extends their welcome to the new owners of the Subway franchise. While it isn’t always beneficial to welcome chain store into neighborhoods we believe the owners of the franchise will bring a valued diversity to our street. This Subway is a gay owned business that will bring more options to the strip, which is beneficial to everyone.
I live a couple of blocks away, and I’m thrilled to have Subway locating here. The one on Oak Lawn is a traffic nightmare, and I doubt the one on Wycliff will last long because that strip has a long history of business failures due to low volume and traffic issues. Parking? Uh, there are huge lots behind their building and behind Caven’s bars. I doubt that they are planning on having their main business volume between 10pm and 2am when those lots are full of clubbers……