Ann Marie and her husband, Joseph Goudreault (whom she kindly refers to as "her maintenance guy") are in their fourth year of owning and managing TNT Subs on the busy Rt. 1 of Hampton, NH. I asked Ann Marie if owning a sub shop was a vision she always had for herself and her reply was "I always wanted to work in the food business. I love the public, I love my customers. I know their names and their families and I know what they're going to order. I also have my summer customers that come back from Florida every year. It's just a nice feeling. I always thought maybe I'd have a breakfast place with a laid back area so people could sit around and talk. The way I found TNT Subs was just one of those things. -My husband and I both got laid off from our manufacturing jobs. I heard about this place through a friend of a friend, one thing led to another and here we are in our fourth year."

Ann Marie's back-ground has seemed to prepare her well as owner and manager of TNT Subs. She was a bakery manager at Market Basket for 10 years and she also worked as a Buyer for distribution and manufacturing for another combined total of 10 years, she's also a certified purchasing manager (CAP). She says "it was a good background for managing this shop. I learned about inventory and how to plan. You don't want to hang on to anything too long. Money is tight; you don't want anything sitting on your shell'. Every penny you make you need to he able to put hack into your business one way or another. The business is doing well, we've been increasing our sales every year and to he up in this economy, I'm very proud of that!"

Their plans for the future are to keep focusing on what they're good at and keep doing it well. They're going to add something new every year, this year its fried dough. "We're a sub shop and when people come in to order 75% of the time they know what they want. But for those that don't we suggest the Italian subs, the steak and cheese bomb and the chicken fingers. My favorite is the garden salad grilled, seasoned chicken. Most people don't realize that we also have chicken and beef tacos and now with our new oven we're really working on growing our pizza business. We offer a good product at a good price. We had a Pizza Bowl for the rotary club last February. People were amazed, they had no idea we sold pizza!

Cooking and entertaining is something that comes natural to Ann Marie.. After a long day at work she goes home and cooks a real meal every night. "My husband gave me the nickname of "Feeder" because I'm always feeding everyone. With my children all grown up, my youngest being 22 now, it was definitely easier for me to make the transition to running this shop. I have the flexibility now that I didn't have years ago. I'm able to work nights, every Thursday afternoon I pick up my grandchild from daycare and 1 have every other Sunday off. Typically I'll put in about a 9 or 10 hour day this time of year, in the summer I usually work a 12 hour day." Ann Marie makes her own sauces and soups and received a "Best Corn Chowder" award for 2007 at a local fundraiser. She has a list of people she contacts when she bakes lasagna, the same goes for her special soups. When there's time she has cookie sampling on Fridays. They have daily specials and Wednesday is all you can eat pasta for $3.95! How can you beat that? Ann Marie says "a family of 4 can have dinner there for about $20, in this day and age, I think that's great!"

Their goal at TNT Subs is to make people feel welcomed. Ann Marie says "1 usually hire high school students and really stress to them the importance of good customer service. People want to feel good and they want good food. I don't want to be the person in the hack that nobody ever sees. If anyone has a problem they can always call me. I live in Exeter, so I'm only 10 minutes away".

If you're looking for a great little place to eat whether it's a sub, salad, pizza or pasta you'll definitely want to try TNT Subs 725 Lafayette Rd., Rt. 1 in Hampton, NH. It's a little gray building set back a hit from the road but inside its cozy, the food is good and the service is friendly! Be sure to try one of Ann Marie's homemade cranberry, chocolate chip cookies, they're to die for! They're open 7 days a week. The hours are 11am-9pm, in July and August the hours will be 10-9. Call them for take-out at 926-2076, delivery is free.