Subway is a U.S.-based quick service restaurant chain known for its six inch and foot long submarine sandwiches. The quick service restaurant was founded by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck in 1965 under the name ‘Pete’s Super Submarines’. In 1966, the company was reorganized under the parent company Doctor’s Associates Inc, and subsequently renamed to ‘Pete’s Subway’, marking the beginning of the contemporary Subway brand. Subway began franchising restaurants in the mid 1970s and today all Subway stores are operated by franchisees. The company remains a privately held company to this day and is still headquartered in Connecticut where it was founded. Today Subway is one of the
, with a brand value of nearly 14.7 billon U.S. dollars in 2021.
How does Subway compare with other sandwich chains in the U.S.?
Although Subway ranked below KFC, Starbucks, and McDonald’s in terms of the most valuable restaurant brands worldwide, Subway came was the
leading sandwich restaurant chain in the U.S., by systemwide sales in 2021. That year, the brand reported 9.4 billion U.S. dollars in sales. Panera Bread was the second highest-grossing chain with 5.73 billion U.S. dollars, and Arby’s came in third with 4.46 billion. Despite the impressive sales figures, the
number of Subway stores in the U.S. has declined year-over-year since 2015.
Subway’s American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score has also declined over the past decade. Although Subway reported higher sales figures than Panera Bread and Arby’s in 2021,
both companies received higher ACSI scores than Subway in 2022.
Is Subway a global brand?
Subway had restaurants all over the world in 2021. The
number of Subway stores in North America alone totaled nearly 25 thousand, including roughly 21 thousand restaurants in the U.S., 2,940 in Canada, and 766 in Mexico. Across the pond, the
European country with the highest number of Subway restaurants was the United Kingdom, with 2,209 establishments. Germany came in a distant second with 654 restaurants and France had 387. In many countries, the brand remains a popular option for diners looking for a quick meal. A 2022 survey of the
most popular dining brands in the UK revealed that over half of the British public had a positive opinion of the brand.
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