R&M Hoagie
R&M Hoagie Shoppe, a Downtown Canton staple for 47 years may change hands. /Staff - Abigail Snelson
A landmark downtown Canton restaurant is for sale, a member of the eatery’s founding family confirmed this week.
R&M Hoagie Shoppe, at 117 W. Main St., could change hands in the coming weeks or months, said co-owner Mike DeLuca, who is often the first person customers encounter when they step up to the counter to order. His parents opened the business on March 20, 1972, and it has been family run ever since.
“It’s business as usual right now. We’ll still be here six days a week doing what we do best,” DeLuca said.
As rumors have been flying from every direction about the idea of R&M Hoagie Shoppe closing its doors forever, people have been asking why now, what will happen to the shop and how will we go on without the best hoagies in Cherokee County?
Mike DeLuca (the M in R&M) says there is no secret; he and his family are just ready to retire from the daily grind.
“We are getting old. If we are going to enjoy life, we need to start enjoying life now,” DeLuca said Thursday. “This business is a young man’s sport and we aren’t young anymore.”
So bottom line, DeLuca said, the business and the building are for sale, but as far as his family is concerned, everything will remain the same until they find the right people to take over the business.
The business has continued to get more and more popular throughout the years and Mike DeLuca said his family wants to hand the business off while they are at the top of their game. 
Pam Carnes, president and CEO of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, gave some insight on the impact of small businesses in Cherokee County.
“One of the first places I ate when moving to Cherokee County 28 years ago was the hoagie shop,” Carnes said. “A pepperoni hoagie, minus the tomatoes, has been my same order since. Just as R&M is a tradition in Canton, the sandwiches the regulars order are traditions for them. Most small businesses, whether in small towns or metropolitan areas, are dependent on patrons like those who frequent the hoagie shop who feel they just can’t get the same products or services from a bigger business.”
R&M Hoagie Shop’s corporate name is RDM Sandwich Shoppe, which stands for Ray, Donna and Mike of the DeLuca family.
The DeLucas’ parents and owners of the shop are the late Helen and Lou DeLuca, who raised their three children in Pennsauken, New Jersey. In 1966 Lou DeLuca decided to move the family to Canton. The shop was opened originally as R&M Pizza and Sandwiches in its original location on what is now Academy Street (formerly School Street) but moved to its current location in 1975 to have more space.
The shop has stayed true to the DeLuca roots for 47 years, serving breakfast specialties like the breakfast BLT and egg sandwiches and lunch specialties highlighting their hoagies such as everyone’s favorite, Donna’s Special and classics like roast beef. 
“It takes all shapes and sizes of businesses to satisfy a diverse pool of consumers. Food attracts many of those consumers to an area where they in-turn shop so continuing to support the variety of restaurants in Cherokee County is vital,” Carnes said. “Being a local patron will continue to provide the greater impact of businesses and restaurants feeding off of each other to maintain a strong customer base of people who 28 years later still receive great satisfaction when the pepperoni hoagie with no tomatoes comes off the grill.”