Area manager Kirsty Wright and store owner Andrew Puckeridge are happy with the ‘fantastic’ turnout. Photo: Erin Hee.
Following the closure of the Subway on Baylis Street, a new outlet has opened its doors in Wagga’s north.
Patrons have made their appreciation known with a huge turnout for the site’s grand opening despite a “horrendous” parking situation.
The Boorooma Subway was two years in the making, and finally opened its doors on store owner Andrew Puckeridge’s 57th birthday.
“I’ve got to say thank you to all the people that have come and supported us, especially since the carpark is not the best here,” Mr Puckeridge said.
“It’s horrendous, but that will be changed. I’ve been told that we’ve got the Coles opening up in December, but it’s probably going to be January.
“They are fixing this up, so we’ll go back to the one-way traffic within the next six weeks. So let’s hope that happens.”
Mr Puckeridge moved to Wagga from Sydney two decades ago and said he hadn’t looked back because he loved the country lifestyle.
The owner of the three Subways in town was sad to see the store on Baylis Street close as it was the first one he’d built from scratch, but the numbers were not adding up.
“I was pretty sad, but it wasn’t working. So you can sit and cry over spilled milk, or you can do something about it,” he said.
“So I just said, ‘You know, I’ll lease to someone else and I’ll do something about it.'”
He picked the location because he saw Boorooma as a growing area.
“It’s a growing area in Wagga. It’s expanded a lot with Lloyd, and I think there’s South Lloyd as well there,” he said.
“This area didn’t have a lot of things; we’ve just got the two shopping centres go up.
“This is our hard opening today, but we’ve had two weeks of seeing how things work, and those two weeks have been very good for us.
“So obviously, people want something out here.”
Chloe Lee and Leanne Grace behind the counter. Photo: Erin Hee.
His favourite items on the menu are the cookies and the Chicken Bacon Ranch, which contains chicken strips, bacon and your choice of vegetables on white bread.
“How can you come to Subway and not have cookies?” he said.
“And the only other thing you really should do is bacon. It makes everyone happy, so you should put bacon on most things.”
The new item on their menu, Chicken Caesar Wrap, has the “stamp of approval” from his daughter, who’s a dietitian.
“She’s a dietitian, so she actually came in, stabbed this and said it tastes really good,” he said.
“And she’s actually pregnant at the moment, so she’s got a craving for chicken Caesar wraps. That got her stamp of approval there.”
The new Subway can be found at 2 Messenger Ave in Boorooma Plaza, next to Domino’s Pizza. It is open every day from 7 am to 9 pm.
