Menna’s Joint owner Hank Andries opened his first Lansing-based location Oct. 10, 2008. The new Washington Ave. sandwich shop is his fifth. He also has two in East Lansing, one in Kalamazoo and one in Mt. Pleasant.
The Downtown location is a bit different than Andries’ four other locations, which sit in the middle of or near major college campuses. The Downtown location hits a more business-oriented crowd, but also benefits from Cooley Law School and Lansing Community College (LCC) traffic.
“Here we have two campuses—Cooley and Lansing Community College. That’s been a pleasant surprise,” Andries says.
Andries considered opening the Lansing-based Menna’s Joint further south on Washington Ave., but wanted to be close to the Capitol. Business for the Downtown Lansing location started out slow—Andries says it’s because they opened in the winter —but is doing well.
“Oddly, our revenues (across the stores) have increased steadily by double digits every year,” he says. “The key is that everyone seems to love our unique sandwiches,” Andries says.
Menna’s Joint is known for it’s massive “dub” sandwich, and stays open until 3 or 4 a.m., a definite perk for the bar-crawling crowd. Andries employs 30-40 people per location.
Source: Hank Andries, Menna’s Joint
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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