Saved By The Brand

Globe and Mail:

Robert Kriewald spent a lot of his time standing around after he bought a no-name sub shop in March, 2004. He had a prime location—Toronto’s Eaton Centre food court—but customers stayed away. “I used to just stand here and look at all the other fast-food stores and see how busy they were,” says Kriewald.

Fast forward two years, and Kriewald’s the king of the food court. And all it took to turn things around was a change of sign—he converted his no-name shop into a Subway franchise. “Everybody’s standing around watching how busy I am,” he says with a laugh.

Kriewald’s father-in-law operates a Harvey’s outlet at the Eaton Centre, and when he noticed that the sub-shop owner across the food court wanted out, he thought it would be a great opportunity for his daughter’s husband. It didn’t take long for Kriewald to figure out why he got the place for just $25,000. “Sales weren’t going up, and it wasn’t really that profitable anymore,” he says.It’s not like fast food was new territory for Kriewald. He was heavily involved in running his family’s Harvey’s/Second Cup combo at a Toronto Home Depot. And he’d often lend a hand at the Harvey’s location in the Eaton Cetnre. But he’d been itching to go it alone. “I’ve always like working for myself,” he says. “And I enjoyed my work at Harvey’s.