Pat's King of Steaks (also known as Pat's Steaks) is a Philadelphia restaurant specializing in cheesesteaks
Posted on 05/06/2016 6:31:27 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Subway Revenue Drops as It Closes Hundreds of U.S. Restaurants
Subway Restaurants revenue fell in 2015 for the second straight year, a sign one of the fast-food industry’s stalwarts is losing ground to newer chains.
Revenue dropped 4.3 percent to $1.11 billion last year, according to the company’s Franchise Disclosure Document, which was filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce last week. Subway owner Doctor’s Associates Inc. also is slowing its pace of new restaurant openings and shuttering hundreds of underperforming locations.
Fast-casual chains such as Panera Bread Co. have been taking share from Subway restaurants in the U.S., bringing its once-torrid growth phase to a halt. Founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck, the submarine sandwich shop had expanded quickly over the decades by aggressively franchising.
It now has more than 44,000 locations worldwide. Lately, though, Subway has struggled to keep pace with more modern rivals, which cater to millennials with items such as quinoa salads and Greek yogurt.
While Subway opened 911 new locations in the United States last year, it closed 877. That means it netted just 34 restaurants in 2015, a slowdown from 313 the year before. Subway had a total of 27,129 domestically at the end of 2015, all of them franchised.
Net income declined 87 percent to $1.15 million from $9.19 million in 2014.
Last year, the company said it was putting new store development on the back burner while it focused on making its restaurants more profitable. “That hasn’t changed,” Subway said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The outlook for 2016 is more optimistic based on the terrific feedback we received from our guests about our culinary improvements and exciting new menu offerings,” the company said.
Still, Subway is feeling more pressure from traditional fast-food chains. McDonald’s is luring back customers with an all-day breakfast push and aggressive discounts, such as offering two sandwiches for $5. To fight back, Subway just started promoting a buy-one-get-one-free sandwich deal in the morning during May.
The Milford, Connecticut-based chain had a tumultuous 2015. DeLuca, the co-founder and chief executive officer, died in September, putting the company in the hands of his sister, Suzanne Greco. In November, former spokesman Jared Fogle was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to child-pornography charges, capping a scandal that had rocked the sandwich chain for months.
In December, the company named former Coca-Cola Co. veteran Joseph Tripodi as its global chief marketing officer, a sign it’s looking to revamp its image. Subway’s longtime “Eat Fresh” slogan lost cachet in an industry where most every chain now touts its ingredients.
Down here in the southeast, Publix supermarkets make fabulous fresh subs that are far superior to anything you can get at Subway.
Down here in the southeast, Publix supermarkets make fabulous fresh subs that are far superior to anything you can get at Subway.
They had a pedophile as a spokesman, and despite multiple reports of his behavior up the chain of the company, they did nothing.....
Never been a big sandwich guy to begin with, but after that came out, haven’t shopped there since and never will again.
That’s what I’m talking about!
These sub shops need to offer a gluten free bun. I just discovered that Smashburger had one and I love it!
Subway is sure inferior to the mom and pop sub shops I used to patronize.
I quit going because of the people I had to stand in line with.
“I never understood what was so special about Subway”
Right there with you. The quality of meat is awful, the bread is nothing special, and the service is the slowest, most painful experience you ever want to go through.
Survival of the fittest. Jared, the pervert, helped them. They should have been gone long ago.
Too much snooty upturned nose silliness here. Ive had a lot of really good sandwiches at Subway. The bread good and fresh. A lot right when I needed one and there wasn’t anything but a gas station for 50 miles.
Food Babe is a twit. Her beer campaign showed her level of ignorance. She’s just another young girl who dreams up her own scary sounding things to sell advertising.
Many of her campaigns have been a combination of her ignorance and of Jesse Jackson style corporate blackmail.
Bread isn’t always supposed to have the consistency of loaves piled into the back of a Soviet truck in Leningrad, tossed out to the crowd, cracking cobblestones if they hit the street.
I don’t know, because I’m not a follower. but the bread thing was true and subway had to do something about it. Somehow that one got my attention and I followed it through to the end. Particularly because I used to be a subway patron and it really grossed me out that something like that was being used in the bread. Last time I bought a sandwich out, it was from panera.
and awful bread ... Cousins in Wi is a bit better for the same thing.
Pat's King of Steaks (also known as Pat's Steaks) is a Philadelphia restaurant specializing in cheesesteaks
In my town, there is Subway in a little strip mall literally next door to a locally owned pizza/sub place. Garden Pizza is always always always PACKED with people waiting for their takeout orders. Next door at the Subway - nothing but crickets..and an occasional customer (although I’ve never actually seen one). For the same for less money, the local place gives you a ton of delicious food.
I like Subways. Will miss them if they go under.
“...wonder if it’s the Jared affect?”
That, and they were horribly over built. We have more of them around here than Starbucks.
In the south they are slow to honk but if they honk quick you’ll often find a Buckeyes or Wolverines license plate frame or a Southern California dealer marquee
But you make a valid point
Make wife tells me to go all the time
Was just in the local Subway for lunch - A customer insisted. SSSlllllooowww service — way slower than your gif.
Subway Salaries
Subway Sandwich Artist
$8.35 HR
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