For those who frequently stop by the Subway sandwich shop on 1300 Water St. in Port Townsend, Mick Davis has become a familiar face over the past 23 years.

Although Davis owned the Subway shop, he could often be found working behind the counter, in uniform, but Wednesday, July 17, marked the date of his handover to the Sandhu family.

Davis and his wife bought their first Subway in Sequim 30 years ago, and handed that shop over to the Sandhus on Wednesday, July 10.

While the Sequim Subway was a preexisting location, Davis pioneered the Port Townsend Subway location just after the term of the millennium. Two previous prospective sites for the shop had caught his attention, each of which would have taken advantage of other stores already drawing customers, such as the Sea Breeze Gas and Grocery, and Swain’s General Store, respectively.

But after those sites failed to pan out, Davis learned that another site, 1300 Water St., had the potential to be developed.

Davis found himself setting up shop in a freshly built space. Over the course of nearly a quarter-century, he estimates he’s employed hundreds of people in Port Townsend, some of them only for a matter of weeks or months. His summer staff tended to swell by two or three employees, while total staffing at any given time could range from as few as five to as many as 10 employees.

Davis estimated he’s paid “several hundred thousand dollars” in yearly payroll for just his Port Townsend employees. But even more than that, he declared his pride and satisfaction in witnessing the personal growth and development of many of his employees over the years. Many of them have made return visits to the local Subway shop where they once worked to catch up on old times and express their appreciation.

“Some of them just want to say hi again,” Davis said.

Davis was looking to sell his Subway shops even before the pandemic kicked off in earnest in 2020, and COVID left him wondering if he’d ever be able to reopen again.

“We were all just sitting at home at first,” Davis said. “It wasn’t until we were within the last year that we started to see renewed interest from possible buyers.”

Sham Sandhu’s family comes to Port Townsend after running two Dairy Queen locations. Sham’s adult son, Devon, is likely to serve as the Port Townsend location’s co-owner and manager.

“It’s nice to see the business being taken over by a young person with the energy to carry it forward into the future,” said Davis, who noted that the Sandhus are staying with relatives in Sequim while looking for a place to live in Port Townsend.

“I know the feeling. I did 45-minute commutes here, every working day.”

While Davis might not miss the extended drive times, he said he will deeply miss being an active part of the Port Townsend community. He took part in ventures to help support local schools and the chamber of commerce, as well as programs such as Centrum in Fort Worden.

“I constantly think how miraculous it was, that I was able to pay my bills, and make a living, by serving up sandwiches, and training others to do the same,” Davis said. “And I got to do it all in the one Subway with the best view of any Subway shop in the country.”

Now that he and his wife have handed over their Subway shops to the Sandhus, Davis plans to head to Sonoma, California. That way he and his wife can be closer to their daughter and granddaughter in a small-town community whose mix of artists and musicians reminds them of Port Townsend.