Shop Scrooges Workers and Fires Everyone by Email Before Christmas

The 20-person staff of a North Side Chicago sandwich shop learned via email Sunday night that everyone had been fired.

The email sent to Snarf's Sub Shop employees reads:

1. Due to increased competition and losses, ownership has decided to consider remodeling and reconcepting the store at 600 West Chicago Ave.

2. The store is closing, effective tomorrow, December 23, 2013 for an unknown period of time for this remodeling and reconcepting.

3. All staff is terminated, effective Monday, December 23, 2013.

A second downtown Chicago shop will remain open. A company spokesman said it made sense to shut down the River North shop because business has been slow and was expected to be even slower over the holidays.

"We really regret our employees were given last-minute notice, but they were aware of the loss of business during the past year," Jill Preston, Snarf's director of marketing, told Chicago Grid and Huffington Post.