Subway Is (Finally) Getting What They Deserve…

In 2015, Subway had more than 27,000 stores in the United States. You could walk two blocks and find one. Today it has 18,773. Last year alone it closed 729, the 10th year in a row that it closed more stores than it opened. No restaurant chain in U.S. history has closed this many. And Americans didn't stop eating sandwiches. Over the last five years, sales at sub sandwich chains grew 19%, while Subway's fell about 7.5%. People are still buying the same lunch, just across the street. So I went back to how it happened: a $1,000 loan in 1965, the $5 Footlong that the whole country could sing, and the idea that Subway was too big for the customer to leave. Then the 11-inch footlong, the end of the $5 deal, discounts that only worked in the app, the loyalty program that changed its rules, half a sandwich for $5, a Subway on every corner splitting the same customer, and stores that now sell less than they did in 2012 after inflation. I also give Subway's side: costs went up for everyone, closing weak stores can be healthy, the $7 deals and the new value menu were a real effort, and the tuna story didn't hold up. So, is Subway finally getting what they deserve? I think so, and the clearest comparison is across the street: Jersey Mike's has about 3,200 stores, and each one sells almost three times what an average Subway does. This is the first video on this channel. If you liked it, subscribe to Shareholder's Math: we do the math on brands that got too expensive. Tell me in the comments which brand we should look at next. Nothing here is financial or legal advice. CHAPTERS 0:00 Subway in the headlines 0:29 10 years of closing stores 2:22 The rise: a $1,000 loan and the $5 Footlong 4:56 The peak: too big for the customer to leave 6:50 The cracks 9:34 Quick pause 9:57 The price and the deals 12:35 Too many stores 14:49 The bill comes due 17:22 Subway's side 19:10 Across the street: Jersey Mike's 20:54 The verdict and 3 lessons 22:53 Which brand next? SOURCES Restaurant Business · QSR Magazine · Restaurant Dive · Fox Business · CNN · Reuters · Nation's Restaurant News · Bloomberg Law Subway Newsroom · Subway Franchise Disclosure Documents (as reported) · Circana · Technomic · Jersey Mike's S-1 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) BusinessWeek / NBC News (2009) · Associated Press · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (In re Subway Footlong, 2017) Video clips are credited on screen. #Subway #FastFood #ShareholdersMath