Franchising

Subway launches refreshed franchise development program

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May 27, 2022

Subway has implemented a refreshed franchise development strategy in the U.S. as part of the brand's multi-year transformation journey to improve across all aspects, according to a press release.

The updated strategy focuses on transitioning Subway from a development-focused organization to experience-focused and is an integrated approach with marketing and operations to deliver better food and a better guest experience. Priorities include optimizing the brand's footprint to prepare the company for future growth, investing in modernizing restaurants and broadening Subway's franchisee profile.

"Subway was built with an expansion mindset that helped us become one of the world's largest quick service restaurant brands," Steve Rafferty, senior vice president of development for Subway, said in the release. "Today, we are strategically focused on the quality of our restaurants versus quantity and looking to franchise restaurants to sophisticated, multi-unit owners that can help ensure we deliver a consistent, high-quality guest experience."

The company's "Eat Fresh Refresh" launch in 2021 brought the largest menu update in the brand's history. As a result, the company experienced it highest annual system average unit volume (AUV) since 2014, significant growth across digital channels and a renewed passion for the brand amongst guests and franchisees. The momentum continues in 2022, with 75% of the Subway system, representing more than 15,000 locations, experiencing an average increase of 8.2% in same store sales in Q1 of 2022, compared to 2019.

Among the updated franchise strategy is:

• Partnering with franchisees and taking a data-driven approach to align with market-specific needs and ensure restaurants are in the right format and locations, including drive-thrus and non-traditional locations, to deliver convenience, accessibility and value.
• Nearly 9,000 Subway restaurants in the U.S. have committed to remodels with the brand's new "Fresh Forward" design.
• Broadening Subway's franchisee profile by seeking out multi-unit franchisees. "Historically, Subway has been a system of primarily single-restaurant operators," Rafferty added. "These operators — often first-time business owners and budding entrepreneurs — have always been integral to our growth strategy, and they will continue to be a critical part of our brand strength. At the same time, to ensure we remain competitive for years to come, we're scaling up with high-caliber multi-unit franchisees, who bring operating expertise, development capabilities and capital."
• Internationally, the company has signed eight master franchise and development agreements with nearly 5,000 future restaurant commitments.

Subway operates more than 37,000 restaurants across more than 100 countries.