Jodi Schwan

jschwan@sfbusinessjournal.com

LAS VEGAS — Schlotzsky’s is coming back to Sioux Falls and bringing Cinnabon with it.

The Atlanta-based sandwich chain has franchised the market and is looking for sites, director of real estate Scott Siegrist said.

“It’s a vibrant, retail-forward market and a captive audience,” he said. “It’s a great town, and it seems like you eat out quite a bit and that’s what we like.”

Scholtzsky’s had a location on West 41st Street but closed several years ago after the company filed for bankruptcy in the mid-2000s. An earlier version of the concept operated in the city in the 1980s.

“We had close to 800 stores prior to bankruptcy. We were probably down to a couple hundred, and then we started to growing back, and now we’re up to about 360. I don’t even know if we’re going to close one store this year, so we are 100 percent growth mode,” Siegrist said.

The menu includes familiar sandwiches and some new specialty ones, as well as salads, pastas and flatbreads.

“I think people like the uniqueness of the sandwich and customer service,” Siegrist said. “It’s the atmosphere and the diversity of the menu.”

The restaurant also has added partnerships with Cinnabon, which would be part of the Sioux Falls location. The cinnamon roll restaurant used to have a location in The Empire Mall.

The market likely can support at least two locations, Siegrist said, adding that the chain is looking near The Empire Mall and would consider an east-side location but hasn’t finalized anything.

“We’re shooting for a late-summer open,” he said.

Schlotzsky’s also is planning to expand to Brookings, Fargo and Sioux City.

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