After sitting empty since June, two local Subway Restaurants will be back in business by the end of this month, according to the stores’ new owner Frank Brinkley.

Brinkley, who owns four other Subway locations — two in Wallace, one in Newton Grove and the other in Beulaville, said he has been working on purchasing the two Clinton locations, located at 312 Northeast Blvd. (Jordan Shopping Center) and 1119 Sunset Ave. (Shamrock Plaza); for the past three months, but actually wanted to own them for an even longer period of time.

“I have been wanting these stores for about two years now,” said Brinkley, who lives in Wallace. “I had tried to work out a deal with the man who previously owned them (Vitus Bradshaw) a couple years ago, but that deal fell through. When all of this happened, I contacted Subway (corporate) and told them that I wanted them.”

What happened occurred on June 17 when Bradshaw’s ownership of three Clinton sites, the Jordan and Shamrock locations , along with one inside Wal-Mart, came to an end. The stores were abruptly closed, leaving roughly 37 employees without a job.

According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Bradshaw, who also owned Subway franchises in Kenly and Wilson, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on May 28, 2009.

Within weeks, all five of his Subway locations were closed.

Since June, the official word from the N.C. Subway Group, was that the franchises that were under Bradshaw were tied up with legal and financial issues, and prospective buyers were being sought.

Within the last three months, Brinkley and Subway had been working on a deal for two of the three Clinton Subways. The Wal-Mart location is in the process of being remodeled. It is not likely another Subway will be located there.

“We have been working on this deal for the past three and a half to four months now,” Brinkley said. “I am in this area and that was one of the reasons why Subway (corporate) wanted me to have these stores here in Clinton.”

The two Subways in Clinton have sat dormant since the day they closed back in June.

“They have been sitting here empty,” said Brinkley. “I have had some employees that have come over to help out with getting the stores ready.”

Brinkley has two pieces of good news for locals who love their Subway. One, he is hoping to open the stores back up within the next week and a half; and two, he is expecting to hire at least 20 employees for the two locations.

“We are going to have a slow opening,” he said. “We want to make sure everyone is in place and trained ... we are hoping to have everything ready by Oct. 28. We will probably have a full grand opening for the two stores between November and Christmas.”

And prospective employees are welcome to come by any of the two locations to fill out applications.

“They will have to be available to work any time day or night or weekends,” Brinkley said. “It is the restaurant business, so you do have to be available. Right now, it is just come by. We will be at the stores until 4 p.m. every day; just come by and fill out an application.”

Between painting, cleaning and getting everything together, Brinkley said that he is “very” excited to be on the cusp of opening the two stores.

“It is a lot of work,” he said, “but we are getting there.”

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or send e-mail to sisports@myclintonnc.com.