Sandwich Shop Owners Point to Safety Concerns After Killings : Crime: The early morning shootings of two men at a Northridge Subway outlet fuel debate over a company policy on late store hours.

A day after two Northridge teen-agers were shot to death in an early morning robbery of a Subway sandwich shop, other franchise owners in the San Fernando Valley said Monday that a requirement to keep their stores open late makes them prime targets for thieves.

Subway officials acknowledged that some store owners might be edgy about staying open until 2 a.m. on weekends, but added that the company allows shops to close early if business is slow or the risk of robbery is high.

Even so, one franchise official said Sunday’s shooting, the first at a Subway in Los Angeles County, has given new impetus to a longstanding debate over operating hours.

Some shop owners say they want to be allowed to close early to protect their employees from late-night robbers, but company officials maintain that the operating hours are part of the agreement each owner signs when the franchise is purchased.

James White and Brian Berry, both 19, were shot and killed early Sunday by a robber who wielded a handgun at the sandwich shop at Zelzah Avenue and Devonshire Street in Northridge, Los Angeles police said.

White was preparing to close the shop between 1:20 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. and talking with Berry, a friend who stopped by to visit, when an armed man entered and demanded money, police said. Although White and Berry apparently handed over all the money from both the cash register and a floor safe, the robber shot both men in the head as he fled with about $520 in cash, police said.

A customer found the two men about 2 a.m. and called police. Berry was pronounced dead by paramedics and White died later at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

The robber was still at large Monday. City Councilman Hal Bernson said he will ask the council today to approve a $25,000 reward for information on the robber. Subway also offered a $10,000 reward.

Friends and relatives gathered outside the shop on Monday to talk about Berry and White, friends since childhood. Both graduated in 1990 from Granada Hills High School, and White was planning to attend Pierce College in the fall to study acting, friends said. Berry worked as a welder at a shop specializing in attaching trailer hitches to vehicles, friends said.

“Jim cared about the world he lived in,” former classmate Jennie McDonald said. “He always tried to cheer people up.”

Berry was described as “quiet but a loyal friend.”

Shop owners in the Valley said they were shocked by the shooting but not altogether surprised by the robbery. Since last July, 48 Subways in Los Angeles have been robbed, five of them in the Devonshire Division, which patrols the shop that was robbed Sunday. All but three of those robberies occurred between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m., Sgt. Dennis Zine said.

Detectives said Monday that Sunday’s shooting does not appear to be related to the other robberies, but store owners were nervous nonetheless. Owners of the 50 or so shops in the Valley called a meeting with police Monday night to discuss what to do in case of a robbery.

Dennis Duval, who owns a franchise in West Hills, said a recent survey of shop owners listed the company-mandated hours of operation as the No. 1 complaint. Subway policy requires stores to stay open until midnight weeknights, and 2 a.m. weekends.

But like some shopkeepers, Duval closes his store early--generally about 11 p.m. weeknights and midnight on weekends. “My hours are set by me,” he said. “I won’t put my employees in danger.”

And Stuart Schlosser, owner of the store where Smith and Berry were killed, said he felt uneasy about keeping his store open late, but was reassured by the location of the Devonshire police station, which is less than half a mile away.

Ruth Sender, president of OhCal Foods Inc., the Woodland Hills company that oversees franchises in Los Angeles County, said the shooting has prompted new discussions over whether to allow more shopkeepers to close early. “It’s being talked about,” she said, declining to comment further.

Dick Pilchen, vice president of marketing at Subway World Headquarters in Milford, Conn., said he was unaware of the shooting Monday. He said shop owners can appeal their operating hours if they believe that business is too slow or the risk of robbery is too high.

Subway encourages shop owners to install security equipment, but does not require it. Some shops are outfitted with video cameras and alarm systems, but Schlosser said that since his store is so near to the police station, he decided against video equipment.

It was unclear Monday whether the store’s silent alarm had been activated during the robbery.