REGINA - Md Rakibul Alam has recently opened up a new sub-restaurant, Sub Expert, in Regina, hoping to one day expand his business across the city.
Alam decided to run a sub shop after working for nearly 20 years in restaurants like Subway. His original plan was to create sandwiches for vendors, but the percentage of royalties they were asking for was too high for him, said Alam.
This made him choose to run his shop, with different kinds of sandwiches and other food products to choose from. According to him, his sandwiches contain 100 per cent chicken, compared to Subway, which contains only 60 per cent chicken and adds 40 per cent white meat to their sandwiches.
The other food Sub Expert offers include a halal burger, halal chicken burger, halal shawarma, halal sandwich and pizza. Alam felt this variety would make his sub-restaurant different from the others in Regina.
While Alam has put alot of time into his restaurant, he said it has been slow so far since he opened it on Nov. 2.
Despite putting in a lot of time, Alam admitted he has not done his best to market the store, and because of that, most people in the area are not aware that his restaurant exists.
A lack of customers is causing Alam to lose profit, and now he is unsure of how long he can keep this up. Currently, he is paying $1,500 a month for rent for the restaurant, plus taxes. Alam also has to worry about paying for his house and other bills.
Even though Alam is facing a rocky start, he understands a business will not always succeed right from the beginning.
However, he has been encouraged by all the positive reviews he’s received for his food and said he already has a few regular customers.
Alam plans to continue to run the restaurant for a few more months and see where it goes from there. He is also planning to create a website for the restaurant to include his menu options and store location.
Sub Expert is located in Victoria Mall, across from Mark’s.
