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Salman Shatara opened Fat Sam's Sub Station in March 1990 at 1154 11th Ave. South in Birmingham, Ala. Mr. Shatara died May 18, 2016, from complications following a car wreck. (Left photo by Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com; right photo courtesy of the Shatara family)

Fat Sam's Sub Station, a favorite of UAB students and faculty for 26 years, is closing following the death of its beloved owner earlier this year.

Salman Shatara, affectionately known as "Fat Sam" to his longtime customers, died in May from complications following a car wreck.

Since then, Shatara's oldest son, Mitri, has kept the sandwich shop running with the help of his employees, but the family has decided to close the shop so that Mitri and his brother, Salman II, can finish their college educations.

The final day for Fat Sam's Sub Station will be Saturday, Oct. 15.

"I'm taking five classes at UAB and working a full-time job already," Mitri Shatara said in an interview with AL.com this morning. "I just don't have time to be there and be as active as a boss needs to be.

"After sitting down with my mother and my brother and discussing it, we decided to let it go," he added. "It was not any easy decision.

"They say you can't do business with your heart. If I was doing business with my heart, we would be staying open. But I'm doing business with my head."

The family is not interested in selling the shop to a new owner, he said.

Mitri Shatara, who is studying history and business administration at UAB, plans to graduate this coming spring and hopes to attend law school. His brother is studying graphic design at the University of Montevallo and is also scheduled to graduate this spring.

Their father opened Fat Sam's Sub Station in March 1990 after he moved to Birmingham from San Francisco.

"My dad, as many parents do, wanted us to go on and do better than he did," Mitri Shatara said. "He told me he didn't want us involved in the business. He wanted us to go on and get careers and have more than he had.

"I've always wanted to be a lawyer, and that's what he wanted me to do -- follow my dreams."

Fat Sam's Sub Station is located at 1154 11th Ave. South, in a retail center on the southwestern fringe of the UAB campus.