The Subway Sandwiches location that opened in downtown Bend in January 2009 closed Wednesday night. Owner Chris Griffin is moving the equipment to a new Subway location he plans to open next week in Redmond.

Griffin, who owns five Subways in Central Oregon, said downtown Bend, with its many eateries, is a difficult place to operate. The site “wasn’t quite performing at the level we hoped it to, so that’s the reason” for the closure, he said.

The Redmond location, a stand-alone building with a drive-through, will be on Highland Avenue at Canyon Drive, near Redmond High School. It’s targeted to open Sept. 9.

The downtown Bend location also had a Sisters Coffee Co. that Griffin ran through a license agreement. Its equipment will move to the Subway-Sisters Coffee location at the Pioneer Crossing mall in south Bend. Employees at the downtown location are relocating to the new Redmond store or other Bend locations, Griffin said, adding that he’s also hired 11 people to ramp up the Redmond store.

— From staff reports