By Julie Glover, Guest Blogger
There’s been a lot of conversation recently about the new Subway Sandwich shop that will open in a few weeks in the Texas Building at 100 W. Oak Street.
Some of the objections have been that people don’t want a national chain in downtown Denton. Prior to the invention of malls, all national chain stores were located in downtowns. Downtown Denton had JC Penney’s, Sears, Woolworth’s, M.E. Moses, Duke & Ayers and Western Auto, to name a few.
Some object to the fact that a franchise is opening. We currently have numerous franchises located in downtown: Fuzzy’s Tacos, Mellow Mushroom Pizza, Thomas’ Ethan Allen Interiors, Burguesa Burger and Rusty Taco come to mind. At least one business, Little Guys Movers, started in Denton and now has built multiple locations in and out of Texas. We need to also remember that franchises and chains don’t start with multiple locations—they start as mom & pops.
The downtown area is zoned for restaurant use. The City has to apply that zoning fairly and across the board. If we banned Subway, we would also have to ban independently owned restaurants, like J&Js Pizza.
Downtown is growing and changing, almost daily, it seems. We are fortunate to have a vibrant, busy central business district that attracts all sorts of businesses.
If you don’t like Subway, you don’t have to eat there. We have a plethora of other dining choices within easy walking distance. I do hope, though, that everyone will be civil and that we can all co-exist, since this franchise will soon be part of our downtown neighborhood. Diversity is what makes us stronger and more attractive to our customers.