Things were different on Marshall Street last semester. The area was quieter, more charming.

But those days are gone. And with them went the empty storefronts. In their place stand two national food chains, along with a third one that plans to open within the next month.

‘There was room,’ said Jerry Dellas, president of the Crouse-Marshall Business Association and part owner of Varsity Pizza and Faegan’s Caf & Pub. ‘But I don’t think we need any more.’

The old restaurants, most of which are standards in the area by now, are still there, just hidden behind the newer, flashier signs and awnings of the newcomers.

‘The area is saturated now with food service options,’ said Demo Stathis, owner of Cosmo’s Pizza and Grill.

More like supersaturated. With the recent additions of Jimmy John’s and Quiznos – two national sub sandwich chains – and the soon-to-be-open Fajita Grill, Marshall Street is beginning to look more and more like a mall food court.

Interested in pizza? There are at least four places to find it. Burgers? There aren’t as many options, but there are at least two. Chinese food? Check. Middle Eastern? Two places, actually. Pitas? Another two. Subs? Three, as long as the Subway shop in the Marshall Square Mall is included.

It’s not that no one saw it coming – the owners of the Marshall Street standards did; they just weren’t scared. Most still aren’t.

‘We’ve been here for 40 years, and we’ve seen places come and go,’ Stathis said. ‘We expect that to keep happening over the next 40 years, too.’

Despite the addition of two food options to the area, Stathis said business at Cosmo’s is right where it usually is for this time of year.

‘We’ll keep doing well,’ Stathis said. ‘But if I were to guess, there will be some people who go.’

History shows the newcomers will more than likely be the ones who will not be able to compete. McDonald’s, Burger King and Friendly’s have all tried to expand to the SU Hill and failed.

Jimmy John’s, Quiznos and Fajita Grill, though, might have an edge on those other corporations. Whereas failed attempts in the past were made by companies that already had a national presence, each of these new Marshall Street chains are a part of a company’s attempt to expand into the Northeast. None of the businesses seemed to mind that the area was already packed with food options. For them, it was manifest destiny.

There were some admitted oversights, though, like the fact that neither Quiznos nor Jimmy John’s – two nationally competitive chains – knew of the other’s plan to move to the SU area until the paperwork had already been signed.

John Hutchinson, owner of the Jimmy John’s franchise on Marshall Street, found out about Quiznos’ plans to move to Syracuse while he was surveying a location in Armory Square.

‘We saw the Quiznos Hummer drive by,’ Hutchinson said of his first encounter with his competition. The sight, Hutchinson said, motivated him to choose the location on Marshall Street, a site that was closer to the students and to the pulse of the community.

Christy Lee and Simon Sim, owners, operators and managers of the three-week-old Quiznos on South Crouse Avenue, had been hoping to open a Quiznos for almost two years, and picked out their location over a year ago when they found out that Jimmy John’s was planning to move in as well. As Lee took a walk down Marshall Street a few months ago, she saw construction behind one of the storefronts and a ‘coming soon’ sign for a sub shop called Jimmy John’s.

‘It was a surprise,’ Lee said, ‘but I don’t mind it. I believe in my product.’

Strong front aside, Lee said she was scared about what would happen. When Quiznos opened on Feb. 14, the crowds were not on par with the openings of other Quiznos in the Syracuse area.

‘It wasn’t as much as I expected,’ Lee said, ‘but it’s growing every day. Once people get to know who we are, they’ll remember Quiznos forever. It will get better.’

Hutchinson, meanwhile, said he could not be much happier with the early returns he’s seen since his store’s Jan. 4 opening. And he’s looking forward to the competition.

‘I firmly believe that both businesses will thrive,’ he said. ‘Let the sandwich wars begin.’

Hutchinson said he neglected to consider either Pita Pit or El Saha as part of his store’s competition throughout the planning process.

‘I didn’t know how we would compete with one another,’ he said. ‘But nobody makes the same sandwich. Now people at least have options.’

So far, Hutchinson’s business has hurt the pita proprietors directly next door.

‘Of course Jimmy John’s is affecting our business,’ said Nicole Tabolt, a Pita Pit employee. ‘I mean, they’re right next to us.’

The buzz of the new sub shop drew business away from the national pita chain that for almost all five years of its existence has been the most popular pit stop on Marshall Street. But now that Jimmy John’s is starting to lose its novelty, Pita Pit is slowly regaining its crowds.

It’s a scenario that Pita Pit and its corporate headquarters understand. Once Pita Pit opened at SU, it quickly faced competition from an unlikely source: El Saha, a second Marshall Street pita provider that was created to tap into the pita-loving crowd that Pita Pit had helped create on the Hill.

‘We always face other copycat pita places opening within a block of them,’ said Marina Leos, director of special projects for the Pita Pit Corporation.

After having balanced out that competition, Pita Pit will now face the challenge of competing with Jimmy John’s. The two companies are no stranger to one another; both Pita Pit and Jimmy John’s are national college campus chains.

‘In a lot of our locations in the states, there’s a Jimmy John’s close by,’ Leos said.

Leos is aware of Jimmy John’s track record; she is just unaware of any decrease in business that a sub shop might cause. Like the owners of the new national chains, Leos stresses that Pita Pit has a very distinct and loyal customer base. It’s this customer base, Leos said, that has helped the chain continue its growth.

‘I don’t think we’re in direct competition,’ Leos said. ‘I don’t think it will affect our business. We’re not really concerned.’

Then again, maybe they should be. As the chains battle for business with one another, the mainstays – like Varsity Pizza, Cosmo’s Pizza and Grill and Faegan’s Caf and Pub – are sitting back, hoping to outlast the new blood.

Their track record suggests that they will.

‘Once something new opens up, everybody wants to check it out,’ Dellas said. ‘But how long will it take before people just get sick of subs? I guess we’ll find out.’

Published on March 3, 2005 at 12:00 pm