Rob and Lorrie Svadlenka, owners/operators of Subway in Grand Marais, truly enjoy making sandwiches for their customers.

The Subway restaurant in Grand Marais is a community affair.

Owners/operators Lorrie and Rob Svadlenka run the successful franchise, one of more than 35,000 in the world, just like other Subways, offering fresh sandwiches, soups, personal pizzas and breakfast sandwiches to customers who drop by. But Grand Marais is a small town and everybody knows each other, so if you’re local, there’s plenty to talk about with fellow customers when you’re there.

A representative from the corporate offices discovered that last year, Lorrie said. The company was doing a survey of customers in Subway restaurants, and he arrived with a bunch of questions. 

“He couldn’t get people to talk to him because they were so busy talking to other people,” she said, laughing. He finally gave up and told Rob and Lorrie to keep on doing what they were doing— this Subway was obviously a success.

That sense of family— knowing your customers and what they like to eat— is part of the reason that the Svadlenka’s business is so popular.

“I’m like a bartender,” Lorrie said. “A lot of times people settle on a sandwich and stay with it.”

“It’s fun,” Rob said. “There are times we don’t even ask—we know what people want.”

Lorrie tells the story of one customer who usually came in when Rob was working. When asked what sandwich he wanted, he didn’t know— exactly. “”I don’t know what I want. Rob knows,” he said.

Individual customer service is what Subway is all about.  The business offers 19 different sandwiches with five different breads as well as two sizes of flat breads and a good variety of chopped fresh vegetables, pickles, olives and condiments which can be combined in an infinite number of ways.

The sandwiches have to be built in a specific manner, Rob said, making training of new employees quite a challenge. There’s a lot to learn, he said.

Subway has had a spectacular growth since it was first founded by 17-year-old Fred DeLuca in 1965. DeLuca, who wanted to study medicine, approached Dr. Peter Buck to ask for a loan to go to college. Buck agreed and suggested DeLuca start a restaurant and offered a 50/50 partnership. The first sub shop, called Pete’s Sub, was opened in Milford, Conn., and wasn’t that big a success. So DeLuca decided to open another one, and the business just took off.

Today, there are more than 35,000 franchises in countries all over the world, and Subway has surpassed MacDonald’s as the biggest.

Interestingly, the corporate name, Doctor’s Associates, remains, and it is still headquartered in Milford, Conn. Rob said.

One of the major reasons for Subway’s popularity is the fresh, healthy food it offers on its menus. Back in 1965, that wasn’t something people got excited about, but it’s very important today, Rob said.

According to Subway’s web site, the business has been focusing on environmental issues for several years now, too, outfitting new stores with energy-saving devices, for example, as well as working to substantially reduce its waste stream. 

Rob came to the business indirectly. He said was working in the construction industry in the Upper Peninsula and helped build a Subway in Ironwood, Mich., in 2003. He heard about a Subway franchise available in Grand Marais and decided to it was time to change careers.

Lorrie, on the other hand, has been working in Subways most of her life—20 years, in fact. She grew up in Duluth and worked in all the Subways there over the years.

She and Rob met at a Subway manager's meeting in Hinckley in 2003. It wasn’t love at first sight, they say, but they began to meet occasionally when Rob came to Duluth. “We had dinner once in awhile,” she said. “Then one day, we just realized we wanted to date.”

 They got married four years ago and have turned the Grand Marais Subway into a family affair — a good thing for everybody who likes lots of fresh veggies in their diet. And they keep busy. On a typical summer day, Rob and Lorrie could make as many as 400 sandwiches. “They’re fast,” said customer Roger Linehan. “It’s great service, great people and great food. And it’s fun to come here.”