Subway Restaurants opened more than 2,100 locations in 2011, adding a total of 21,000 jobs globally.
With more than 35,800 franchised locations, Subway this year became the world's largest restaurant chain in terms of number of locations, and was just named the top ranked restaurant brand in Entrepreneur magazine's annual Franchise 500 listings (No. 2 overall, behind Hampton Hotels).
Subway's 2011 openings included 1,000 new locations in the U.S. and Canada alone. A big part of the chain's growth came from nontraditional spaces such as convenience stores, department stores, train stations, museums, hotel lobbies and movie theaters. This year marked the company's 8,000th nontraditional opening.
Subway's growth is expected to continue into 2012, with plans to add 2,500 more restaurants, adding approximately 25,000 jobs.
Subway now exists in 98 countries.
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