By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — Best Subs Known To Mankind, the beloved sandwich shop, will be moving locations for the first time since opening.
Local residents looking forward to grabbing a bite to eat at the new location can find them at 97 Pleasant Street. Their planned opening on Pleasant Street is scheduled for December 1, 2022.
Located at 285 Washington Street since opening as a Subway franchise, owner Robert Wilhelmy decided being a franchisee wasn’t for him. A short time later, Wilhelmy would start the Donut Factory, and eventually, the Claremont institution of Best Subs Known To Mankind.
“I just decided being a franchisee wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to work for a corporation, there are a lot of good things that come with it, I’d just rather work for myself,” Wilhelmy said of moving toward starting his own concept.
Wilhelmy’s overall premise is to focus on offering the customer the kinds of food options they want. This is ingrained so much so that it’s included in the slogan on their website. “We make our fresh subs, sandwiches, salads & burgers the way YOU like to eat them. Not how a corporation tells us. Enjoy Your Best SUB Today!”
Employees at Best Subs, like Breanna Roberts, look forward to moving to Pleasant Street and think it will help continue the revitalization project that the street has seen recently.
“I’m very excited for the move! It is an amazing business opportunity and Best Subs will definitely be a great addition to Pleasant Street! Robert has been on Washington Street for the last 30-plus years, so I guess you can say it’s been a long time coming. Other than the freshly renovated space you can expect the same great service and yummy food as before,” Roberts said.
With the move to historic downtown Claremont, Best Subs is looking forward to not only being in a more centralized walkable location, but due to the larger size of the new location, expanding the menu as well.
“Being out here on Washington Street, we have never gotten foot traffic. With the walking trail behind us we had hoped people may stop off here on their walk but that never materialized. Now that we are going to be on Pleasant Street, we are looking forward to having people coming in regularly,” Wilhelmy said of the move.
The move to Pleasant Street wasn’t necessarily part of the plan but rather a sort of serendipitous change. When the 285 Washington Street location sold in June of this year, there was a level of uncertainty concerning the new owners plans with the building. Rather than waiting for potentially bad news, Wilhelmy decided it was time to look for a new location.
“I thought it was in the best interest of the restaurant and the staff to maybe look for a new location. I didn’t want to wait to get a thumbs down and find that we had to move out. I saw that the Pleasant Street spot was available and that the owner owns the plaza as well. So we are getting a bigger place with no concerns about parking,” Wilhelmy said.
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