Longmont deli Subworks will close later this month after 21 years of serving sandwiches.

Tim Test, who owns the shop along with his wife, Sarah Test, said the deli will close either on Dec. 23 or when it runs out of food to serve. He encouraged folks who want to have one last bite to eat to come in as soon as possible.

The store changed owners a number of times since its opening in 1999, according to Test, with him and his wife operating the eatery the longest of them all — since 2011.

Test had worked for two previous co-owners of the sub shop, Dale and Debbie Roberts, as a manager. And in November 2011, he and his wife bought the place.

He added that, for some time, he had hoped to pass Subworks along to its general manager, Marsha Clarke. She has for the past year and a half taken over most all of the owners’ duties, according to Test, though the shop didn’t last long enough for her to completely take the helm.

“It’s a bummer,” Clarke said of Subworks Deli’s closing. “I mean, we love the job that we do and the customers are great. I’ve had a good outpouring of love from them … they’re all shocked and bummed, as well.”

She added that she “wishes everybody the best.” Having found out just recently that the store is going to close, her job hunt will coincide with wrapping up her duties at Subworks.

As for why the restaurant has seen a decline in business, Test said it was a mix of market and personal factors.

Despite many indicators pointing to a strong local economy and growth ahead — recently financial advising company SmartAsset ranked Longmont as its No. 1 “boomtown” — and the restaurant moving to a new location in 2016, factors including a glut of sandwich restaurants and a changing food delivery game took their toll, Test said.

“When the first guy opened it, there were some Subways and one local sub shop called Sub Factory,” he said, adding that now, diners can choose from a variety of higher-end sub shops like Snarf’s and Cheba Hut, all of which have larger advertising budgets.

Test also said that food delivery apps have made it so consumers can have any kind of food they want from the comfort of their couches, as opposed to years ago when certain restaurants, including pizza and sub shops, specialized in delivery.

“We used to be unique in that there weren’t a lot of places that delivered and there weren’t a lot of places that delivered subs,” he said, adding that for some time Subworks’ large delivery radius and low or non-existent fees helped it compete.

And despite adjustments, such as raising prices while simultaneously increasing the amount of meat in its subs, the shop, with its limited advertising budget and little to no financial wiggle-room, wasn’t able to pull through.

Over the years, though, Test said he and his wife have loved “being that small, little locally owned shop,” serving high school students during lunch and serving school sports teams box lunches for their away games.

“We just can’t thank the community enough for 21 amazing years of memories, and, you know, just support,” he said. “It was an incredible ride, and while we’re sad to see it go, we’re also kind of ready for the next chapter in our lives.”