Springfield’s only freestanding Quiznos has closed, although the sandwich shop still has a satellite location on the Lincoln Land Community College campus that operates under different ownership.
The Quiznos at 2701 W. Lawrence Ave. had been in operation since 2004 before closing last week. When the restaurant first opened, the space at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Clocktower Drive was attached to a Family Video store. The video rental chain began closing its Springfield locations in 2018, starting with the store on Lawrence Avenue and another on West Jefferson Avenue.
Samantha Clardy began working at the west-side Quiznos in November 2021 and then purchased the business from Matt and Toni Hurt in September 2024. The Hurts still own and operate the LLCC location.
“I started off with nothing but debt because of the deal I was given, and I couldn’t ever catch up,” said Clardy of her decision to close the business.
She told SBJ that the weekly revenue generated from sales at the store was quickly depleted by obligations such as the lease, utilities and transfer fees. Clardy said when she took over the business, CWLP required a $3,000 fee to transfer service into her name.
“That was money that I could have used to buy more product,” she said. “I had no line of credit other than the money coming in the door, and I could never get caught up.”
Clardy said she also faced unexpected and increasing costs.
“Our bulk prices raised three different times over the past year,” she said, referring to her cost to purchase the inventory. “Once I ran out of product, I shut it down.”
Clardy said she hopes to find an investor by the end of the year and reopen in a different location.
“If I can’t find an investor in the next two months, that will be it,” she said.
Nationwide, the number of Quiznos fell from a high of 4,700 locations in 2007 to just 400 a decade later, according to Restaurant Business, which called it “one of the biggest restaurant chain collapses in industry history.”
A June 30, 2018, article noted that the company owned a subsidiary, American Food Distributors, that bought food from vendors and sold it to operators. It accounted for much of the corporate profits, but the high food costs made it difficult for the operators to be profitable, according to the article.
Quiznos currently has fewer than 200 locations remaining in the U.S. In Illinois, in addition to the LLCC restaurant, Quiznos has a location across from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus and three in the Chicago area.