Jennifer Gates was just 18 when she started working at Subway Station in Newport News in August 1989.
The recent Menchville High School graduate just happened to see the “help wanted” sign after visiting her father, who was battling brain cancer, in the hospital.
“I was looking for a part-time summer job until I figured out what I was going to do,” Gates said. “I went in, filled out an application and I was hired on the spot.”
Fast forward 36 years, Gates has been store manager for the past 20, having made countless subs and serving an untold number of customers. And Subway Station’s owner, Tom Pitkin, surprised her with news: an offer of part-ownership in the business that he started 48 years ago.
Pitkin said Gates is the “gold standard” of loyalty and dependability, and because of that, he is now entrusting her with the secret ingredients for the sub shop’s signature sauce.
“I am privy to all of the ingredients and proportions now,” Gates said.
Come Jan. 1, Gates will take on more responsibilities as managing partner and learn more about the ins and outs of the business over the next year.
Pitkin, 76, said he will cut back to a couple of hours two days a week in the shop. With his free time, he plans to get out on the golf course more and take a few shots off his handicap.
Tom Pitkin, owner of Subway Station in Newport News, poses for a portrait. (Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot)
Seventeen years ago, when Pitkin was fighting cancer and absent from the store for almost a year, Gates stepped up and kept the store running smoothly.
“I’ll be forever indebted to her for that. I don’t know that I would still have this business if it wasn’t for her,” he said. “I decided to reward her with a 20% interest in the store itself and, eventually, she’s going to have the whole store.”
“I was so honored, shocked and very appreciative,” Gates said. “It’s humbling and I thank him from the bottom of my heart.”
Pitkin and his wife, Trudie, own the business’s building at 12288 Warwick Blvd. across from Christopher Newport University. Once he fully retires, he said he will pass ownership of the land and building to their two daughters.
Aside from the familiarity of the job, Gates said she has stayed on all these years because of Pitkin, who is easygoing and relaxed: “He makes you feel like family — very warm and welcoming.”
And over the years, her family grew. Gates has four children and eight grandchildren. Two of her sisters worked in the shop at one point and one of her daughters, Marissa Banks, works there now.
Seven years ago, Gates moved to Mathews County, extending her work commute to almost an hour.
Jennifer Gates, a longtime employee of Subway Station, poses for a portrait at the Newport News restaurant. (Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot)
At the start of the new year, Gates and Pitkin will head to an attorney’s office, the accountant and the bank to sign all the paperwork. That’s when Gates will hand over $1 to her boss turned business partner.
“He said that he was told that if you give somebody something it can be taken back, but if it’s bought, it’s yours,” she said.
Moving forward in her new role, Gates doesn’t plan to change anything about Subway Station.
“Why would I?” she said. “It’s been very successful just the way it is.”
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
