Island’s newest Subway now hiring

LIHUE — The first new Subway Sandwiches shop to be built on Kauai in 10 years may open next month.

The company plans to open a store at the Hokulei Shopping Village, said Thomas Yano, who is the Subway franchise owner along with his wife, Marites.

“The shop will also feature the new metro decor, the first one in Hawaii with the new look. It’s also going to be efficient,” Yano said. “Not only is it built for efficiency, it features real slate on the walls, and commercial porcelain tiles on the floors and remaining walls. It really does look like a high-end restaurant instead of a sandwich shop.”

Yano said the new shop adds to the couples Kuhio Highway location, which will remain open.

“A lot of people are asking about a new Subway,” he said. “These are people from the county and other businesses in town who would be heartbroken if we closed the town store. We’re also looking at using of the employees from the Lihue store to help open this Hokulei location. We’re definitely not closing the Lihue shop.”

If things go as planned, the Hokulei Village Subway will open in August.

Last week, Yano watched Harry Duronslet of HD Construction unload the shipping container at the site of the new shop, adjacent to Panda Express.

The store is accepting employment applications at the Lihue Subway store. It will need about 15 people to run the store, but Yano plans to hire more.