21,000 U.S. SUBWAY® Restaurants Now Open

By: Subway | 5 Shares 305 Reads

Seven New Locations Open Across America on a Milestone Day

August 23, 2007 // Franchising.com // (Milford, CT) — The SUBWAY® restaurant chain has opened its 21,000th United States location, reaffirming its leadership among America's favorite quick service restaurants.

The notable accomplishment occurred during just one day – July 5th, 2007 - as seven SUBWAY® locations debuted across the U.S.A; continuing the chain's extraordinary growth and customer service it has provided during 42 years of success across North America and around the world.

Hungry customers welcomed fresh sandwiches and salads at SUBWAY® restaurants in Tucker, Georgia, and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Staff members and visitors lined up at a new SUBWAY® shop inside the Pasco Community Hospital in New Port Richey, Florida. You can fulfill the urge for a SUBWAY sub sandwich when you're in Aurora, Illinois, in Southaven, Mississippi – even while vacationing in North Miami Beach.

Belinda Craven Bullock now owns her second SUBWAY® restaurant, in Robbins, North Carolina. She remembers, "I started ten years ago as a Sandwich Artist®, working two hours a day; I became the manager in the Carthage store two years later. I bought that store in February of 2000. I believe solely in the SUBWAY product we serve – its freshness, its quality. It's a healthier choice." And what does Belinda enjoy the most about her businesses? "I love customers; I work in my stores every day because I love serving people. I love what I do!"

All seven SUBWAY® milestone locations are owned by existing franchisees, who operate anywhere from two to 22 SUBWAY® sites. In fact, during 2006, an impressive 86 percent of new SUBWAY® restaurants in the U.S.A. and Canada were opened by multi-unit store owners.

There are more SUBWAY® restaurants than McDonald's® in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – 28,000 places around the globe to enjoy a SUBWAY® meal.

For a third consecutive year, the SUBWAY® chain has been honored with the Good Sam Club's "Welcome Mat Award." In a national membership poll, more than one million recreational vehicle owners voted SUBWAY® restaurants as "an RV-friendly business" - their favorite sandwich shop to visit while traveling interstate highways and country roads.

The SUBWAY® chain has also been favorably cited in a Zagat poll, by the "RealPeopleRatings" surveys, and it has received a "Choice In Chains" award from Restaurants and Institutions magazine.

The SUBWAY® concept offers low start up costs, ease of operation and healthier menu options, allowing it to open close to 2,100 new locations and add nearly 800 new franchisees to its ranks during 2006. The SUBWAY® chain has unveiled its 6,000th international restaurant, as well as its 6,000th "non-traditional" site.

Headquartered in Milford, Connecticut, the SUBWAY® restaurant chain was co-founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck. Their partnership continues to this day, making it possible for thousands of franchisees and families to build and succeed in their own business. The SUBWAY® chain has been cited as the number one franchise opportunity by Entrepreneur magazine in its 2007 "Annual Franchise 500®" listing – for the 15th time in 20 years.