One in 8700

Many Middlebury students know that Noonie’s Deli, a sandwich shop in Marble Works, sells some of the biggest, tastiest, reasonably priced sandwiches around. Owner Bryan Phelps, along with his fiancée Jenny Condon, a graduate of Middlebury, bought the deli from Karen Phelps in March of this past year.

Born and raised in Middlebury, Phelps graduated from Middlebury Union High School and promptly left for Boston College, beginning the journey that would eventually bring him back to Middlebury. While living in the Boston area, Phelps worked a number of corporate jobs and started his own property management business, which he went on to manage for seven years. After meeting Condon and moving to New Hampshire, Phelps and his fiancée began toying with the idea of buying a house in Middlebury.

“We had had conversations about at some point moving back to Middlebury,” said Phelps. “We bought a house we fell in love with, started talking about it and decided to pull the trigger and move back to the area.”

After that decision, the pieces began to fall into place. Condon was able to continue her work in software sales from their new home in Middlebury, and Phelps sold his business in Boston with the hopes of finding something new.

“I was pretty much looking for any business opportunity that was out there, and Noonie’s was for sale at the time,” said Phelps. “It [the deli] was something I grew up with. I was 12 or 13 when it opened in Middlebury, and I have a lot of connections to that deli.”
Similarly, Condon also had a special place in her heart for Noonie’s, a place she always made sure to visit whenever she returned to Middlebury. The timing was right, and the couple became the new owners of Noonie’s Deli.

“The previous owner was excited about transitioning to someone who had local ties,” said Phelps. Karen Phelps had been approached by other interested buyers with outside perspectives or a desire to change the deli’s concept.

“She wanted to stress that she wanted it to remain much the same as possible, and that was certainly the way I felt,” said Phelps.

Phelps does not have any radical changes planned for the deli.

“Any changes I’ve made have been mostly process changes,” said Phelps, who notes that he has taken some measures to be more efficient at busy times, such as Parent’s Weekend and Homecoming Weekend. Phelps stressed his desire to keep Noonie’s as a community fixture that both college students and residents of the town can enjoy.

Living in Middlebury and owning Noonie’s has been “a bit of a homecoming” for Phelps, who explained his love for the sense of community only present in a small town like Middlebury. After having gone away and returned to Middlebury, Phelps is delighted to own a piece of what makes the town so special. He and Jenny have intentions of starting a family soon, and they are happy to call Middlebury home

“Middlebury and the deli are both special places for Jenny and I, and we wanted to continue to be a part of it and keep that alive,” said Phelps. “It became clear to me that there was a lot about Middlebury that we wanted in our lives.”