NEWS
Statesider gets a Potbelly
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Also by Michelle Orris:
- UW band to play pre- and post-game Music City Bowl (December 11, 2003)
- UW advertising project receives national attention for study (December 4, 2003)
- UW advertising project receives national attention for study (December 4, 2003)
- Judge chooses not to hear appeal propelled by Wisconsin Law School (November 14, 2003)
Related Stories:
- State Street swells with sandwich eaters (November 4, 2005)
- Bialy Brown's closes due to lack of patronage (January 29, 2003)
- 6 downtown restaurants open (August 29, 2003)
- Steve Brown to buy The Towers, The Regent, sources say (January 31, 2003)
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by Michelle Orris
Thursday, May 1, 2003
The Chicago-based sandwich diner Potbelly will open at 534 State St. this summer, in place of Bialy Brown’s Delicatessen below the Statesider Residence Hall.
Potbelly’s Marketing Coordinator Gayle Nikel said the corporation staff decided to locate on State Street because they wanted the deli on the university campus. A Potbelly restaurant just opened on the Ann Arbor campus in March.
“We like to be in the central business district where people are out and walking,” Nikel said. “We’ve opened many in the downtown Chicago area and in Washington, D.C., where a lot of people walk to lunch and dinner.”
The restaurant’s origin dates back to 1977, when Potbelly was an antique shop owned by a couple who also grilled sandwiches in the corner of the store.
When the couple sold the shop in 1996, the current owner went on to open 26 stores with antiques and potbelly stoves in each location.
“What stuck is the sandwiches,” Nikel said.
The restaurant chain is growing rapidly, with 10 new stores opening by October.
The store will offer six-inch toasted sandwiches at a uniform price of $3.79 each, and the menu also includes shakes, malts and smoothies.
A variety of antiques will decorate the restaurant.
“We have people that constantly scour for antiques,” Nikel said. “Each store has a rustic-feel potbelly stove and a range of tacky things you might find in someone’s basement.”
