Georgio’s Subs under new ownership

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND — What do sandwiches and real estate have in

common? In North Bend, quite a bit. Georgio’s Subs has two new

owners who are used to selling houses rather than subs.

Terry Hill and Bob Perrell of McGuire Hill Real Estate bought

the Georgio’s franchise on June 1 and have been making plans, as well

as sandwiches, ever since.

“We are really trying to concentrate on friendly customer service

and cleanliness,” Hill said, explaining how he and partner Perrell have

already received many positive comments about the eatery, which has existed

for around five years.

The shop is located next to QFC on North Bend Way and has

undergone some changes, the owners said, including establishing regular

business hours. Current hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Hill said

all menu items will be available up until closing.

Georgio’s offers hot and cold subs, salads, healthy and vegetarian

menu items, soups and fresh-baked cookies. Their breakfast menu includes

egg sandwiches and hash browns.

Perrell said they have a new line of gourmet soups and will soon

be offering Ivar’s salmon chowder in addition to the already popular

clam chowder.

Valley resident Richard Holley said he likes the service at

Georgio’s and has a few favorite foods, as well.

“I really like the chili,’ he said. “The chili’s the best and so are

the [chicken] cordon bleu subs.”

Hill and Perrell have hired a new management staff and are in the

process of offering new features to the restaurant, including home and

office delivery to the Upper Valley.

Office delivery will start in a few weeks and orders will be taken by

fax, phone and eventually through the Internet. Menu items exclusively

for workplace delivery will also be offered.

Hill said office delivery is great for meetings, parties and workers

who don’t want to spend 15 minutes of their lunch break driving and waiting in

line at a restaurant. And subs offer a change from pizza delivery, he added.

Six-foot subs can also be ordered for office delivery, but need to

be called in the night before.

Another new feature yet to come at Georgio’s will be Friday and

Saturday evening home delivery and store hours extended to 11 p.m. on

those days.

As for specials and customer incentives, stamp cards will be

available that can be kept at the store and Mondays will be double stamp day.

When filled, the card can be redeemed for a foot-long sub.

Hill and Perrell also plan on getting Georgio’s involved with

local youth programs in the near future.

The real estate duo usually work 50 to 60 hours per week at their

regular jobs and have been doing double-duty at the shop.

But they won’t be sandwich makers for long — once their

management staff is settled in, the men will

resume more of an overall management role and have their sights set on the

future of Georgio’s.

The restaurant’s purchase is part of a larger plan for Hill and

Perrell, who want to use their real estate knowledge to help put more

Georgio’s in the state. There are currently 12 franchises in Washington and

Hill would like that number to reach 40 or 50.

“I don’t know if I would have done it if there weren’t a future to it,”

Hill said.

“We thought getting involved from the ground up would allow us to

be able to help sell other franchises because we’d have first-hand

experience,” he added.