Three new Subway sandwich shops have opened this month in the Spokane-Post Falls area, says a Spokane franchise-development representative for the Milford, Conn.-based chain.

One of the Spokane outlets, at 41 W. Third, replaces an outlet that had been located across the street at 24 W. Third. Another outlet has opened at 4100 S. Cheney-Spokane Road, across the road and west of the Trading Co. store there. The third outlet is located inside a Wal-Mart supercenter store in Post Falls, at 3050 E. Mullan Ave.

Gary Turnidge, owner of Inland Northwest Subway Development, of Spokane, which oversees the development of Subway franchises in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, says the new outlets range in size from about 1,500 to 1,800 square feet of floor space, and each outlet employs between 10 and 15 people.

The largest of the new outlets is on Third, in a building that formerly housed a Parker Paint store. That outlet is owned and operated by Scott McCandless and Gary Redding, local franchisees who also own 30 other Subway restaurants in the region. The sandwich shop occupies the west half of the building, and the east half of the building is being offered for lease. McCandless bought the building through a holding company named Inland Northwest Business Development Inc., says Dave Zack, who does marketing for that company.

Turnidge says that he and business partner Jerry Jensen own the Subway sandwich shop inside the Post Falls Wal-Mart, and he alone owns the outlet on Cheney-Spokane Road. He adds that he also is the sole owner of four other stores in the Spokane area, and owns eight additional outlets with Jensen.

Turnidge has been with Subway for about 23 years and says he has spent most of that time developing outlets here. He says he oversees 44 franchisees in his territory who operate a combined 135 outlets in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Turnidge says two Subway outlets are set to open in the Yakima area next month, and he hopes to see 10 more stores open in the region within the next year.