Firehouse Subs Closing

[Seraphs]

This is bad news.  I would think the lunch crowd would be enough to keep the place going.  I really hate to see it go.

[gatorback]

Only at the end do you realize that the 'orphanage' is a human chili factory.

What's wrong with chili?  I love it specially on my hotdogs...ha (kidding.) 

The clubs  on Bay, TSI included don't have a problem because they mostly open after 5:00 when it's free to park and lots of people go down there then.  Image what downtown could be during the day if parking was free during the day as it is at night.

I bet if parking wasn't free at night clubs like TSI and the Dive Bar would never had taken off like they have.

[chipwich]

How do we know the Firehouse is closing?  Has there been a media report or a sign or something or is this just a rumor?

I just made it up, but no seriously, there is a sign on their door that says they are closing on September 30th.  The fact that most people were unaware of this leads me to believe that there is a good reason that the place is closing.  Though, I go there quite often for lunch and am actaully very upset that they are closing.  Downtown Jacksonville isn't exactly a bastian of culinary delights, so we weary downtown workers take whatever is available.

I really hope that other restaurants will open and flourish in DT.  and hopefuly... Firehouse will once again make their way back into downtown.

 

[Steve]

Again, I think this is from a couple of things:

1. The parking situation - it's even worse for them because of the fact that Adams is a mess right there - across the street from their place is a couple of freight loading spots for Eddie Farah, A construction zone, since 20 West is the slowest development on the planet (and he's taken up parking for like 4 years).

2. Signage - There is almost none - they either put no effort into this, or the city shot them down.  They should have a sign that sticks out from the corner of the building, so that it can be been form Adams AND Main.  Look at Starbucks for support).

3. After lunch sales - I still don't get this.  If they are talking about the time between 2 and 5, I don't get it.  Let's say that they had one person in every 15 minutes (which even in the suburbs, is not that uncommon of traffic - we used to have a Subway next to our office, and that's about what they had).  At $6 a sandwich, that's $72 dollars an afternoon, and that's Gross, not Net.  I'm not in the restaraunt business, but that doesn't seem to be exactly high enough traffic to make or break the business.  I still wonder if something else is going on, like the Fund needs Office Space, or they raised the rent, or something like that.

[remc86007]

I was talking today with someone about the Subway closing downtown and I mentioned that I thought it was strange that there are not a Firehouse Subs or a Larry's Giant Subs downtown. She told me that both of those used to exist downtown, and that is how I stumbled onto this thread. What are the chances that either of those will return to downtown now that things seem to be improving? They aren't my favorite restaurants, but they sure beat Subway and Quiznos. I imagine a location near the new courthouse could survive on hungry jurors alone.

[fieldafm]

I was talking today with someone about the Subway closing downtown and I mentioned that I thought it was strange that there are not a Firehouse Subs or a Larry's Giant Subs downtown. She told me that both of those used to exist downtown, and that is how I stumbled onto this thread. What are the chances that either of those will return to downtown now that things seem to be improving? They aren't my favorite restaurants, but they sure beat Subway and Quiznos. I imagine a location near the new courthouse could survive on hungry jurors alone.

Firehouse is not interested in returning downtown.

Larrys used to be at the corner of Adams/Forsyth.  A Larrys franchisee was looking at a spot near the courthouse a few years ago (across from 121 FCU), but ran up against a non-compete agreement with 7-Eleven in the same building.  That franchisee went on to open a different franchise (not a Larrys) downtown.

[Flonsickle]

Noooo! Firehouse subs is my favorite

[TimmyB]

Noooo! Firehouse subs is my favorite

You made the same mistake I did.  We didn't look at the date of this thread and notice that it was 10 years ago!  It was only revived because of the Subway closing last week.

[jlmann]

nooooo

subway now this, ugh.  where will people hate-eat awful subs now?  firehouse really had the "strangely damp, kindy chewy bread" which i always loved

[remc86007]

^ Is that a joke or have I thoroughly confused people by resurrecting this old thread?
To be clear: No existing Firehouse subs is closing. The subway that was downtown until recently has closed.

[Jim]

Probably need to change the read title or something.  It's definitely throwing people off.

[JBTripper]

I was reading about how the signage made it so nobody would know there was a Firehouse on Main Street and was like "damn, I drive Main Street every day and had no idea! How bad is this sign?" I guess its even less visible 10 years later than it was at the time the restaurant closed.

[Jim]

I was reading about how the signage made it so nobody would know there was a Firehouse on Main Street and was like "damn, I drive Main Street every day and had no idea! How bad is this sign?" I guess its even less visible 10 years later than it was at the time the restaurant closed.

Downtown, and Jax in general, has some very odd and arcane signage laws.

[lowlyplanner]

Downtown signage codes are very restrictive, and hard to understand, but in the case of Firehouse, it was their landlord (the Police & Fire Pension Fund) who was very anti-sign...

[jaxrox]

There's always Quizno's and Jimmy John's for sammiches and chippies @ lunch time. I like the sammiches @ Akel's the best though. So many options yumm