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A fresh start for Subway owner
A few short years ago, Pragyan Mainali thought of Subway restaurants as a good place to grab a nice sandwich. Now, the eager, young entrepreneur is well-schooled in the business and recently purchased his third and fourth Subway franchises.
Mainali, who moved to the United States from his native Nepal after his high school graduation in 2002, began working at a Subway restaurant in Gainesville, shortly after meeting Tina Patel, wife of Warrenton businessman Jitu Patel.
“We just walked in and asked to speak to the owner. We asked her what kind of help she needed,” Mainali said, recalling how he and his mother Manssi, became acquainted with the chain. “Tina liked us at first glance, and she hired us on the spot.”
In early 2006, Mainali, backed by his parents, Manssi and Govind Mainali, purchased the Subway restaurant in Haymarket from Patel. Later that year, Patel sold them the Subway located in Prince William County's Dominion Valley neighborhood.
“My mom and I had been responsible for managing and increasing sales in various stores of theirs,” Mainali explained.
Last month, Mainali and his family continued to extend their franchise, buying two Warrenton Subway restaurants from Patel. Located on Main Street and in the Oak Springs Shopping Center, the stores have seen increased sales since Mainali took over, he said.
Mainali said that while the family hadn't planned to get into the restaurant business, they found that they really enjoyed what they were doing. Purchasing four restaurants in a couple of years may be stressful for some, but Mainali takes it all in stride.
“If you like what you're doing, there's no stress,” he said. “I can be at work from 7:30 in the morning to 11 o'clock at night and still not get tired. I like working with people and giving good customer service. It's all about dealing with people.”
Mainali has focused on staff training and improving customer service in the restaurants. While his mother has long been involved in the business, Mainali said that his father recently quit his job to take over the financial and management portions of the restaurants. Mainali also gets occasional help from his wife Sudeshana.
The family has brought in three new managers at the two stores and retrained the employees who wanted to stay.
“Subway likes us. They want us to grow. They wanted us to move out to the area to take these stores,” he said.
While building his Subway empire, Mainali is also finishing his education. He holds an associate's degree from Northern Virginian Community College and is currently a junior at George Mason University, majoring in engineering.
With a goal to open more stores, Mainali wants to take the expansion slowly and carefully. “I don't want to stop growing, but I don't want to do it too fast. I want to be able to handle all of the stores and have them run professionally and smoothly,” he said.
Mainali is eager to become part of the community, noting that the restaurants will offer reduced prices to schools and community groups.
The Warrenton stores will host an “under new management special” Saturday, Sept. 27, offering a buy-one, get-one-free sale. The Prince William County restaurants will carry the same special, as a customer appreciation gesture, Mainali said.
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