Noodles & Company Expects Big Things on Belknap Avenue
Superior continues to be enjoying a kind of boom period in its downtown area, with new restaurants and stores seemingly popping up every time one turns around. The last few years have seen a lot of new names going up in lights, and one of the newest is a well-loved restaurant chain that has had a store in the Miller Hill Mall for several years, now: Noodles & Company.
The now-30-year-old Colorado-based restaurant chain serves noodle dishes and sides in its hundreds of United States branches, and its arrival on Belknap Avenue in Superior was warmly welcomed among the locals who were familiar with the brand.
Manager Matt Barningham came to work at the Miller Hill Noodles six years ago as a general manager after a long tenure in restaurant operations with well-known names like Applebee’s, Chili’s and Radisson. After experiencing notable success with that store, he was recruited to shepherd the newest regional Noodles into being.
“What attracted me to Noodles was the quality of life, their mission statement, inclusion and diversity,” Barningham said. “We accept all Noodlers. It’s just a really fun working environment. There’s an open-door policy like I’ve never seen before with feedback and surveys. They’re just a very comprehensive, caring company.”
Barningham’s tenure at the Miller Hill store helped to produce some extraordinary results. “I was brought in there to bring passion into the work environment and lead by example,” he said. “That’s kind of what we did, and we turned that store around to be a top-20 performer.” That’s not in Minnesota – that’s in the entire Noodles network. It only makes sense, then, that the company would tap Barningham to lead another store to what could be similar success.
“There’s a few critical points for why they chose this spot,” Barningham said of the decision by Noodles management to open a second Twin Ports restaurant. “It’s a good market for us. The proof is in the pudding with the Duluth sales, which have not gone down at all since we opened this [new] location. Typically, that does happen when we open a location within 45 minutes of another location. We’re not competing with ourselves.”
The plan to open a second restaurant has been in the works for some time, but all involved were waiting for the right location.
“The biggest thing was,” Barningham explained, “this property came up for sale, and the real estate team just fell in love with it. The traffic counts, the matrix with the household income, the school districts. This busy intersection – they basically called it ‘Main and Main.’ So, they were really excited.”
“During the heat of the summer,” Barningham noted, “there’s 48,000 cars that go by our front step [daily]. And now, with all of our new units, it comes with a pickup window, and that pickup window has been, by far, the busiest in the whole company.”
It’s an incredible statistic – one would assume that major metros with millions of people would be the leaders in that department, but Barningham thinks that Noodles & Company just resonates in the Twin Ports.
“It’s comfort food, y’know? And it’s a little different,” he said. “And they’re talking about other units down the road – West Duluth, the Iron Range, Brainerd – as well.”
“We cook high-quality ingredients, just very fast,” Barningham said of Noodles & Company’s menu offerings. “We don’t have microwaves. We don’t have can openers. We don’t even have a freezer. All our ingredients are fresh, right there on the grill. We go with uncommon goodness and we go above and beyond with fast-casual.”
So far, the store’s been a big success. “Feedback’s been great,” Barningham said. “We started number-one in the company when we opened our doors. The sales were through the roof. We’re starting to subside now a little bit. We’re starting to catch up to the business. And I hired a great staff.”
Sasheen Neft is an Area Manager for Noodles & Company and oversees seven of the company’s stores. She’s been with them for more than 12 years and has watched Barningham’s success grow with time. She, too, felt strongly that an expansion into Superior was a great idea.
“It definitely was needed,” Neft said. “It was a change-up from what was offered in the area, and it was better for our guests. They didn’t have to travel across the bridge and up the hill to come see us. And we also love to be a part of college communities. We see a lot of college students and employ a decent amount of college students.”
Neft said the new store moved quickly to staff up. “We really start hiring people about 30 days in advance. Then, about 10 days before our opening day, we bring in the whole team and we do what we call a ‘boot camp’ for five days. We had almost 40 people hired, and we trained them on everything. And we had our managers who came from the Duluth location, so they knew Noodles already, but we did have a couple brand-new managers. We actually bring in a whole training team from around the country – really top performers who train our team and make it really easy on us who are going to be here for the long haul. They do a great job of making sure that the team knows all the details of having a successful restaurant.”
Melissa Pratt, who works in Human Resources for Douglas County at the courthouse right down the street from the new restaurant, says the eatery has been a game changer for her and her coworkers.
“It’s been really nice to have another place right downtown that’s close enough for us to get to for lunch and quick enough that you can actually enjoy the time,” she said. “Some of us have a 30-minute break, so being able to run out and grab something quick is important. Others get an hour, so they have more time, but not enough to go to a restaurant.”
“Every time I’ve been there, the staff has been responsive and friendly,” Pratt said. “For it being such a new place, they seem to be doing a good job managing the amount of business they’re getting. Even during lunchtime, things come out pretty fast.”
Pratt said the store has become popular among people with dietary restrictions. “I heard from a few people on campus who are vegan,” she said. “They’re very appreciative of having a place in town that has some dedicated vegan and vegetarian options, as what they can choose from here in Superior is pretty limited.”
“It’s been really fun to get to know the regulars,” Neft said. “The past months and weeks that we’ve been open, just seeing those regular faces come in already has been just so awesome.”
Neft added that the Noodles team aims to participate in the community as much as possible as they become more known.
“For Superior,” she said, “we’d like to start to get really involved by doing some fundraiser nights or partnering with whatever community events are happening. I really look forward to those kinds of things.”
“It’s a great partnership with the community,” Barningham said. “We’re looking to be a part of the Superior community for good. We’re not going anywhere.”
Tony Bennett is a freelance writer based in Duluth.
