Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Blimpie is Down at Toco Hills

Sandwich shop shutters.

One of the last remaining local Blimpie sandwich shops has closed.  The freestanding Blimpie at Toco Hills shopping center closed a few weeks ago, although it remains listed as "open" on the company's website.  If memory serves, the Toco Hills Blimpie eatery had been in business for over 20 years.  With Jimmy Johns now located within the center, adjacent to Publix, and a Subway closeby, Blimpie was operating on borrowed time.  

The Blimpie at Toco Hills did have a drive-thru window, a rarity for the brand and the segment, but even that could not save the stale business from closing.  

A peek into the restaurant's window this week reveals basically all has been removed from the restaurant aside from a single toilet left behind and now in plain view. 

Blimpie began in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1964, and is today owned by Kahala Corporation and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.  At its peak in the early 2000s, Blimpie had about 2,000 locations, today the chain reportedly has just under 600 locations.  

Subway, the sandwich industry leader, started in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1965, and today has about 43,000 locations across the globe.  

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to frequent Blimpies in Toco Hills in the late 1970s. It was located a few doors down from where the theater used to b, to the left as you entered from North Druid Hills. I do not know if the operation was uninterrupted.

Anonymous said...

I quit going there when they started giving me canned Coke, instead of draft on ice. I know then it was going don.

Anonymous said...

While not Toco Hills, there's still a location close by on Cheshire across from the theatre.

Anonymous said...

Another location is still open in Chamblee, at the intersection of Savoy and Chamblee Dunwoody, in a small gas station anchored plaza (Savoy is an like an access road that runs next to 285).

Anonymous said...

I always liked Blimpie, a lot better than Subway. But every location that I ever patronized eventually closed down. I was not aware that there are so few, if any, left. Sad.

Anonymous said...

Hapeville still has a Blimpie in a gas station, which is next door to a Dominoes/Quiznos (yes one is still open!) and a Subway all in a row.

Margie's Blog said...

My parents bought a franchise with Blimpie in approx 1976. We were store number 3 or 4 in Atlanta - at the Toco Hills location, in the very back corner. Then sold it to Sam, who later moved it to the N. Druid Hills Rd store front - which may have been a D'Lites at one time. I always thought the meats were way tastier than what Subway uses, and Jimmy Johns. The bread was baked local, and the cheesecakes were local as well. My dad would deliver 6 ft subs to the frat houses at Emory, and brought one to our homecoming float build. It was a hoot to work there, but after 3 years we burned our oregano and onion smelling clothes! LOL

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