Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

You don’t see a lot of 12-year-olds that have their own restaurant or even many that have the desire to, but Tobey Colvin is an exception.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve always liked restaurants and sandwich businesses, and I was really interested in having a restaurant,” he said. “It’s been my dream forever to have a business.”

Tobey says that the most fun part about opening Tobey’s Sandwich Shack, located at 7039 McMinnville Hwy, has been getting to enjoy the process with his family.

His Pop, Glenn Chapman, owns the building that the sandwich shop is in, cutting out any rent overhead, and helped him get the place up and running.

The family came up with the sandwiches that are featured on the menu together including a pizza grilled cheese which Tobey noted as his favorite.

His reason for going down the sandwich route is a simple one.

“I chose sandwiches because a lot of people love sandwiches, and I love sandwiches, so that’s why we decided to do sandwiches,” he said while also mentioning that they have “really good” hot dogs as well.

Though it may seem tough to balance running a sandwich shop and getting schoolwork done, Tobey says that he just brings it with him if he has to.

“I go to Westwood Middle, but if I have to, I’ll bring stuff here and work on it, but most of the time I finish while I’m in class, so I don’t have to bring it to the sandwich shop,” he said.

When he’s not working or going to school, he enjoys playing video games at home, fishing and hanging out with his friends.

The Sandwich Shack had a soft opening on Sept. 4 which had a large turnout of people coming to try the food, something that Tobey says he is thankful for.

While the process has been a lot of fun, Tobey explained that there were some harder parts as well

“It’s probably been us getting all the supplies out and getting things like the freezer set up and all the equipment,” he said. “That’s probably the hardest stuff or getting everything set up with the health department and getting it ready.”

In addition to his Pop, Tobey also has a crew that works with him making the orders.

Cat Myers, who has dated Tobey’s Pop since he was 18 months old, says that the Sandwich Shack is a way to give Tobey something to do in the future.

“He’s always had a really big interest in food and food preparation, and his Pop was just trying to think of something fun to do that he enjoys doing instead of just building houses all the time because his Pop is a general contractor,” she explained. “He said, “If Tobey grows up and he doesn’t want to general contract, I want to have something else that he can do besides just manage all the rental properties.”

“This is Tobey’s passion to deal with food and to deal with people. He loves people,” she added.

Myers said that they have talked about eventually expanding into another part of the building to open a coffee shop. She also noted that they’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from customers.

“We’ve had several people that have come through and told us how glad they are that we opened in this area because this is a well-travelled spot,” she said.

Also working in the shop is Jessia Roberts, a long-time family friend whose son was born on the same day as Tobey. She came to work after a call from Pop.

“Glen called me the other day and asked if I wanted to come work at the sandwich shop, and I said sure,” she said. “I homeschool my kids, so they are able to come and go, and I’m still able to get all of there stuff done, so here I am. My husband works in Tullahoma, so he stops by to help out. We all just pitch in and help.”

“We’re all one big happy family.”