MILFORD, Conn. — Subway has topped its 30,000 store milestone two years before its original estimate with nine stores opening within the same 24-hour period. According to the company's Web site, the official store count is now 30,016 in 88 countries.
The nine new Subway restaurants are located in Sahuarita, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Peachtree City, Ga.; Sneads Ferry, N.C.; Gronau, Germany; Hong Kong; Durham and Windsor, Ontario; and Stockholm, Sweden.
"The stores and their franchisees represent many of the diversified aspects of the Subway chain that have enabled it to grow so successfully over the years," said Subway spokesman Les Winograd.
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| A typical freestanding Subway store |
The new stores reflect the diversity of the Subway concepts, with domestic and international locations as well as stores with various size footprints. For example, the Hong Kong store seats only 10 customers, the store in Germany is only 140 square feet and the North Carolina location is 1,500 square feet.
Several of the new stores opened in non-traditional locations, such as one in Windsor, Ontario, inside a Home Depot.
"We're constantly discovering places to put Subway restaurants," from college campuses to hospitals, Winograd said.
Those types of locations often have an captive audience that might not have the time to drive elsewhere for a meal, and Subway provides a familiar brand, he said.
Winograd said that nine store openings in a day is not atypical for the chain, which franchises all its stores. Between April 1 and Sept. 30, franchisees opened more than 1,000 stores, with the most opening in July at 256 stores.
Subway does not expect that growth to slow, even as lenders as tightening credit parameters. Winograd said that some franchisees have reported difficulty in obtaining loans, others have reported they aren't having any problems obtaining credit.
