Sandwich shop opening in Fort Collins, again

FORT COLLINS — Yampa Sandwich LLC plans to open a location on South College Avenue this year, its second in the city and sixth overall.

The new site is at 4020 S. College Ave., between Horsetooth and Harmony roads. Denver-based Yampa has a restaurant in Old Town Fort Collins, three in Denver and one in Steamboat Springs.

“It’s a ‘B’ location on an ‘A’ road,” said Yampa Sandwich co-founder David Pepin, noting that South College Avenue is a well-traveled route. He said Fountainhead retail center is recently renovated as well, and will provide the company’s first restaurant with dedicated parking

Pepin and Peter Boniface co-founded the Denver-based company in 1999. A third partner, David Mischell, invested three years ago after licensing the brand name for 10 years and opening three Denver sites. Yampa is now franchising.

Of the six locations, two — Old Town FoCo and Steamboat — are company-owned. Mischell franchises his, and the three are the franchisees of the new Fort Collins restaurant. Local general manager Kenny Wiszt will run the two Fort Collins locations.

The franchise fee is $25,000. Royalty and marketing fees are 5% and 1%. Startup costs run $260,000 to $425,000, and average unit volumes are in the high $800,000s including an outlier — an especially high-performing Denver location. That’s down from a peak of $1.2 million pre-COVID, a number Pepin said is not realistic right now, with the pandemic still affecting restaurants. Most future sites will be franchised.

Stores are called Yampa Sandwich Co. Sites sell soups, salads and specialty sandwiches.

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