West Asheville restaurant closing after more than a decade serving community
ASHEVILLE - A West Asheville eatery that’s served countless stacked, scratch-made sandwiches to customers for more than a decade will be closing later this month.
Asheville Sandwich Company, at 794 Haywood Road, has announced it will close on Feb. 24 after its lease was not renewed.
On Feb. 7, the owners Kevin and Cheri Mullins notified followers via a letter posted on the business’s social media accounts and website.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude to all of you—our loyal customers—for your unwavering support over the years. It has been an incredible journey, and we are truly grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of your lives. Your patronage, kind words, and smiles have meant the world to us,” the post stated.
Customers are encouraged to redeem gift cards and rewards points before Feb. 24.
Property issues
Ava Cole, the landlord, owns the parcel that includes the property at 794 Haywood Road and the neighboring building at 792 Haywood Road where Moo Cookie Company operated before closing in December. The properties were purchased by Cole last year.
Moo Cookie Company's social media announcement posted by owner Matt LeClair on Nov. 17 said:
“It’s with great sadness to say that Moo Cookie will be closing its doors on December 3rd as our landlord has decided to end the lease. Unfortunately, we’ve not found another suitable location at this time, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled if something comes available."
Kevin Mullins said he and his wife were notified that their lease would not be renewed in November 2023.
"We actually thought we were going to get a new lease then we were notified that we had to move out," Kevin Mullins said. "She told us that they were going to do a bunch of updates to the locations and kind of reimagine what they will be in the future, and that's really all the details they gave us on that."
For her part, Cole said both properties are in "pretty bad structural shape" and she is working to make them "safe and secure again." She said the buildings will stay intact, and that she plans to have something cool for the community once repairs are complete.
"I didn't take it lightly ― not renewing the lease there," Cole said. "There were a lot of strong reasons for it."
Cole, a West Asheville resident, said the properties will remain commercial properties.
"I'm invested here, I live here and I'm trying to make something beautiful as a neighbor," she said. "The buildings need so much help. They're in such bad shape and I bought it from people who initially bought it to bulldoze both buildings and build condos there and I am not planning to do anything like that."
Cole said she has leads on new food and beverage tenants to move in after renovations.
"I'm hoping to bring a little life to it," she said.
The next move for Asheville Sandwich Company
Kevin Mullins said the sandwich shop employs six people who were notified about two weeks before the public announcement. He said some employees have been recommended to other restaurant owners to hire, and he plans to keep two or three on staff to assist with Asheville Sandwich Company's catering service.
"That was probably one of the hardest things, to let our employees go," he said. "We really wanted to hold on because the ones we have right now are just so fantastic."
Asheville Sandwich Company is accepting orders for Group Trail Boxes, curated food packaged for those engaging in hiking, biking and other outdoor activities.
Catering services are intended to begin once the business owners secure a commercial kitchen.
The closure is not intended to be permanent as the entrepreneurs seek a new address for their brick-and-mortar restaurant. Ideally, the location will have high foot traffic, indoor seating and within a community, like in West Asheville.
Kevin Mullins said he and his wife began searching for a new location immediately after receiving notice from the landlord but to no avail. The lack of "good restaurant space" in Asheville has been a major challenge and a feat they didn't expect to be difficult.
"We got pretty aggressive about looking for locations," Kevin Mullins said. "We talked to a lot of realtors in local business areas, and we were hoping to have a clean transition so we wouldn't have to let anyone go but unfortunately the ones that we kind of had lined up didn't pan out."
He said some people have reached out to suggest locations and encourage the business to open in areas like Johnson City, Tennesee and Roanoke, Virginia.
In 2012, Asheville Sandwich Company opened on State Street before relocating to Haywood Road in 2014. Then, the owners were Brian Good and his father, Tom Good, and Lawrence Perkins.
A second location opened on Sardis Road in West Asheville but later closed.
The business has changed hands a couple of times with the Mullins purchasing it in 2018.
The sandwich shop’s menu features more than 20 sandwich styles, including po’ boys, banh mis, cheesesteaks, and popular sides like shoestring fries and Brussels sprouts. The restaurant also serves a full menu of ice cream and milkshakes.
"We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for supporting us and being there for us," Kevin Mullins said. "We were one of the few places open in West Asheville during the pandemic for several months and got a lot of locals kind of to rediscover us and they've been supporting us ever since."
Asheville Sandwich Company
Where: 794 Haywood Road, Asheville.
Closing: Feb. 24.
Info: For more, visit ashevillesandwichcompany.com and facebook.com/AshevilleSandwichCompany and Instagram at @ashevillesandwichcompany.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Sandwich Company owners announce closure of storefront shop
