This downtown Wilmington sandwich shop has closed

The Subway restaurant in downtown Wilmington closed at the end of March, according to a note posted on the door. It’s now the second empty storefront in the 300 block of North Front Street.

Clean Juice closed at the corner of Front and Grace streets in September 2023. (The Mayfaire location of the juice and cafe chain is still open.) Businesses such as Islands Fresh Mex Grill and the Edet by Island Passage clothing boutique are also on that downtown block.

Subway, which has a 20 or so other locations in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties, points customers to other nearby locations, including one at 2601 Castle Hayne Road and at 1707 Dawson St. in Wilmington.

In recent years, Subway has closed thousands of stores. In 2023, though, more restaurants opened than closed since 2016, according to the Restaurant Business publication. The chain has been overhauling the brand and made moves to expand globally. Over the next two decades, almost 4,000 Subway locations are expected to open in China. In the United States, Subway still operates about 20,000 locations.

The note was signed by the Chapel Hill Subway Group, which is the largest Subway franchisee in North Carolina. Their restaurants include about 47 locations across the state.

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Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at [email protected]. 

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Subway sandwich shop in downtown Wilmington, NC, has closed