Dayton restaurants: Firehouse Subs to open new sandwich shop

Firehouse Subs — which already has three Dayton-area restaurants and is gearing up to open two more in the coming weeks — has reached an agreement to add another in the northern Miami Valley, and is looking for more locations.

Charles Fryman, area developer for Firehouse Subs, said through a spokeswoman today that an agreement has been reached on a lease for a new Firehouse Subs in Sidney. The lease is expected to be signed later this week, Fryman said. It will be located in the Kroger Center on Michigan Street in Sidney.

Workers are putting the finishing touches on two other new Firehouse Subs — one at 1128 S. Main St. (Ohio 48) in Englewood, and another in the Cornerstone of Centerville development near Wilmington Pike and Feedwire Road. Both are projected to open by early April, Fryman said.

Robert Zavakos, senior vice president for the commercial real estate firm NAI Bergman, is representing Firehouse Subs, and said he is looking in the Troy, Xenia, Beavercreek and Richmond, Indiana markets, and in the Dayton Mall area, for potential additional locations.

Fryman confirmed that Firehouse Subs is “aggressively searching” for new locations, and said of the areas cited by Zavakos, “Each of those areas is a vibrant market, and we would love to have sites in all of those communities.”

Firehouse Subs scored a national shout-out last month when RestaurantBusinessOnline named it "America's Favorite Chain" for 2017, based on its consumer survey. The Jacksonville, Florida-based sandwich chain overtook the previous year's winner, Chick-fil-A, the web site said.

Firehouse Subs’ Englewood sandwich shop, at the Ohio 48-Wenger Road intersection just north of I-70, will be the third location for franchise owners Seth and David Grusenmeyer, who also operate sub shops in Oakwood near the University of Dayton and on Old Troy Pike in Huber Heights. The Centerville restaurant at 5239 Cornerstone North Blvd. in a “Shoppes at Cornerstone ” retail center will be operated by franchise owner Dave Baker, who also oversees the existing Firehouse Subs on Far Hills Avenue (Ohio 48) in Kettering.

Fryman told this news outlet in 2012 that he planned to open as many as nine Firehouse Subs locations in southwest Ohio.

Firehouse specializes in hot subs and also serves salads, chili and other sandwiches in an atmosphere that evokes an old-fashioned firehouse. It has found a niche in a highly competitive submarine sandwich market in southwest Ohio, with relative newcomers such as DiBella’s and Jersey Mike’s expanding in the region alongside national chains such as Subway and Dayton-based chains that include Submarine House and Super Subby’s.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.