Firehouse Subs coming to Kalispell
EACH FIREHOUSE Subs location includes a custom mural painted by a Florida artist. The Kalispell painting features the local landscape, Kalispell Fire Department and owner Les Kleinman’s farm animals. (Photo courtesy of Les Kleinman)
A portion of proceeds helps first responders and schools
By BRET ANNE SERBIN
Daily Inter Lake
Winter will start heating up when Firehouse Subs opens in North Kalispell in December.
The “fastest-growing sub [chain] in the Northwest” will open its second Montana location next to Coldstone Creamery near Walmart on Dec. 7.
“I always wanted to come to Montana,” said franchise owner Les Kleinman, who has lived in the Flathead Valley for about four and a half years. “I’m excited to give back to the community I wanted to live in for so long.”
Firehouse Subs was founded by two firefighter brothers in Florida in 1994, and now incldues more than 1,000 locations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The closest loction to the Flathead Valley is currently in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Bozeman is home to the first Firehouse Subs location in Montana.
The chain is known for both its sandwiches and its foundation, which provides grants to first responders, schools and other community institutions around the country. A portion of all sandwich sales goes into the foundation, and Firehouse Subs reviews grants and gives out donations every financial quarter.
Kleinman said the restaurant already has given out about $200,000 across Montana and he has started working with Flathead Valley first responders to submit grants to the foundation.
“It’s very community-centered,” Kleinman said. After nearly 40 years working in “corporate, white-collar America,” the former Marine became a Firehouse Subs franchise owner “because of the brand” and its community focus.
But he also emphasized “the food is just phenomenal.” The chain is best-known for its hot subs, and Kleinman noted the meat for these sandwiches is high-quality and produced specifically for the restaurant.
“There’s a big menu, big variety,” he added. “A lot of people just don’t know” about Firehouse Subs’ other offerings, such as salads, soups and macaroni and cheese. “The salads are phenomenal,” he said.
Catering is also a big part of Firehouse Subs’ business, Kleinman pointed out. He said local businesses have already submitted catering orders, even though the restaurant won’t be open for about a month.
First, renovations to the former Bojangles restaurant have to be completed.
“We gutted the whole place and just rebuilt it,” Kleinman reported, but he said they are ahead of schedule on the rebuild.
They also have to hire and train the new employees. Kleinman said they will bring on a staff of 25 employees to start with, and they already have two full-time managers. Kleinman said they plan on hiring “everybody from here.”
“I’d like to bring more jobs to Montana for the locals,” he said.
Generating local jobs is just one part of the impact he hopes the restaurant will have on the local community. He is developing a plan to provide late-night meals to employees nearby at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, and he is talking with neighbor Coldstone Creamery about ways to run a “complementary business” by offering deals that combine dinner and ice cream.
He also plans to feed Glacier tourists with early-morning meals for the RV campers in the Walmart parking lot and boxed lunches for park visitors to take along with them.
After opening another Firehouse Subs in Missoula next year, Kleinman hopes to eventually expand to Whitefish and potentially Great Falls and Helena. It’s important to him to continue growing the business, because he said, “as much as we take in goes back into the community.”
Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.