Having owned the Centralia Quiznos franchise for almost two decades — starting back in March 2007 — franchise owner Tina Berquist has again been recognized nationally, earning the Restaurant of the Year award from the corporate office.
Her business was also given the Quiznos 100% Food Safety Award. The Chronicle visited Quiznos on Monday, Sept. 29, to learn more about how Tina runs the business.
Tina runs the restaurant alongside her husband, Tim Berquist, and the couple has been together for over three decades.
This isn’t the first time Tina’s Quiznos franchise has been nationally recognized, as she was previously honored as the national Quiznos Franchise Owner of the Year back in 2012.
Famous for their toasted sub sandwiches, there were over 2,600 Quiznos franchises nationally in 2012, a number that had been on the decline since its peak of over 4,700 franchises in 2007, according to foodie.com.
Many more Quiznos franchises across the nation have been forced to close since then by a combination of issues, including the 2008 Recession, food supply distribution cost issues and tough competition from Subway, which launched its own toasted sandwich advertising blitz.
Today, there are only 151 Quiznos left nationwide, Tina said.
The secret to surviving despite the thousands of other franchises going under?
“Every day working and focusing on customer service,” Tina said.
She also attributed concentrating on customer service to her franchise's survival of the 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns.
Located in the Centralia Outlets on High Street, many of the surrounding businesses had to shut down due to the pandemic, but the restaurant was considered essential and allowed to stay open.
Because of the shutdowns, though, many assumed Quiznos was closed, too.
“Nobody knew we were back here. But we were still open, and it was our (regular) customers who saved us,” Tina said.
“They tipped more than they were spending,” Tim added.
Tina also said they even had some regulars who came in multiple times a day. This enabled Tina to retain most of her employees and keep them busy with deep cleaning projects during the shutdown.
The couple thanked their loyal customers for their continued support.
Currently, Tina and Tim have 10 employees working for them, including their son, John Berquist.
Tim added both he and Tina are about “two years away from retirement” and invited anyone interested in purchasing the Centralia Quiznos franchise from them to come visit to talk for more information.
Located at 136 W. High St. in the Centralia Outlets, Quiznos is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Quiznos was first opened in Denver, Colorado, in 1981.
To learn more, visit the company’s website at https://tinyurl.com/4scnxdt2.
