There’s a true David versus Goliath battle brewing between a small midwestern town and a multinational corporation right now: This community is fighting Subway’s plans to construct a transcontinental party sub directly through their town.
So inspiring. Good on this town for refusing to let a powerful sandwich company walk all over them!
Earlier this month, the residents of Claflin, Kansas were notified that Subway was negotiating a deal with the local government and developers to build part of its transcontinental party sub—a 2,800+ mile, uninterrupted Black Forest Ham sandwich that will connect America’s coasts, starting in Norfolk, VA and ending in San Francisco, CA—straight through Claflin’s downtown district and surrounding suburbs. Subway has reportedly offered buyouts and relocation packages to homeowners and businesses in the party sub’s planned path, though none have been accepted yet, as Claflin’s outraged townspeople have made it clear they will fight tooth and nail to keep Subway from letting their community become collateral damage of corporate ambitions.
Though Subway and local proponents of the party sub insist that construction of the country-spanning sandwich will bring thousands of sandwich artist jobs to Claflin, a majority of its residents remain unconvinced of the sub’s long-term benefits. Party sub protestors are now regular guests at town hall meetings, and flyers reading “Party Subs Are For Lunch, Not Claflin” can be seen on windows of small businesses and just about every telephone pole in the area.
“Subway wants to save money by not building the sandwich around our town, so they’d rather displace an entire community instead,” said Claflin resident Sharon Poulter, 48, an outspoken critic of Claflin town council members in favor of granting building permits to Subway. “I don’t care if it makes no sense for a party sub to have a big curve in the middle, or if it costs Subway a billion more dollars. If their cross-country sandwich means bulldozing through our homes and uprooting our lives, build it somewhere else. Subway wants to tear down a school and four churches that are in the way of their party sub’s route. Any council member who supports that can kiss my vote goodbye forever.”
“I have many concerns about pushing a Subway party sub on our town: the smell, the kind of people it will bring through around, its affect on our wildlife, the quality of their ingredients,” said Wilford Olbrecht, 63, a lifelong Claflin citizen on disability who could certainly use the money Subway is offering for his property, but stood his ground for his hometown’s best interests. “This is a quiet community. Everyone knows their neighbors. It’s the kind of place where people grow up and then want to stay. You run 400 tons of ham, bread, cheese, tomatoes, and mustard through a town like Claflin? It’s over. There’s no going back. This town means more to me than Subway’s money. Jared Fogle also molested me in 2002, so this is personal. Very, very personal.”
Wow…Subway picked a fight with the wrong people!
It’s so powerful to see a community stand together like this. Any company with a heart would call off plans to raze Claflin for a transcontinental party sub after hearing these people out. Let’s hope the corporate bigwigs at Subway come to their senses soon and leave this small town alone!
