TUCSON
Closed east-side Jason's Deli will reopen as a Baggin's
A longtime Jason's Deli restaurant that closed suddenly over Memorial Day weekend is becoming a Baggin's sandwich shop.
On May 30, the former franchise owner, Delwest Inc., closed two local Jason's Deli locations amid financial problems, including nearly $1.2 million in federal tax liens for unpaid employment taxes.
The Beaumont, Texas-based parent chain reopened one location, on North Oracle Road, in June.
The company said it would renovate the other Tucson location, on East Broadway - the company's first franchised restaurant when it opened in 1988 -and reopen that site this fall.
Instead, Baggin's will open a restaurant there.
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Baggin's president John Murphy said the new restaurant - called Baggin's Gourmet - will offer more than the usual Baggin's fare.
"We're going to have some new sandwiches and salads," he said.
Murphy said he hopes the new restaurant, which will have an outdoor patio and seat 100 people inside, will open in November.
O'Reilly buys Speedway land
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. has purchased 24,879 square feet of land at 4866 E. Speedway for a new auto parts store. The sale price was $425,000.
O'Reilly plans to tear down an existing 3,417-square-foot structure - formerly a Vince's Italian Restaurant - on the property to build a Checker Auto Parts store.
The seller in the transaction was Oldooz Development Inc. O'Reilly Automotive Inc. was represented by Debbie Heslop of the Volk Co. and Oldooz was represented by Bob Baker of Sonoran Ventures Inc.