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Subway history
Subway company history timeline
The partners opened their first restaurant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in August of 1965, where they served freshly-made, customizable and affordable sandwiches to local guests.
In 1965, Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from friend Peter Buck to start "Pete's Super Submarines" in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in the following year, they formed Doctor's Associates Inc. to oversee operations of the restaurants as the franchise expanded.
In 1968, the sandwich shop was renamed "Subway".
By 1974, Fred and Doctor Buck owned and operated 16 submarine sandwich shops throughout Connecticut.
In 1974, a franchise operation began with a restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut.
The first Subway on the West Coast was opened in Fresno, California, in 1978.
The first Subway outside of North America opened in Bahrain in December 1984.
The first Subway in the United Kingdom was opened in Brighton in 1996.
Since 2007, Subway has consistently ranked in the Entrepreneur Franchise 500.
According to Abha Bhattarai of The Washington Post, this is a result of three consecutive years of falling profits, and foot traffic in Subway stores reduced by 25 percent since 2012.
By August, the historic refresh results in the strongest restaurant sales since 2013.
In January 2015, Suzanne Greco became president and CEO after her brother Fred DeLuca, the company's first CEO, died of leukemia in September 2015 after being ill for two years.
In 2016, Subway closed hundreds of restaurants in the United States, experiencing a net loss in locations for the first time.
In July 2017, Subway unveiled redesigned restaurants, dubbed "Fresh Forward", with a new company logo.
In January 2018, Subway invested $25 million in a re-branding campaign targeted at young consumers in order to revitalize its image and boost sales.
In April 2018, the chain announced it would close about 500 more that year.
Subway® is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP LLC. 2020 Subway IP LLC
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Subway competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | 1940 | $25.9B | 210,000 | 40,197 |
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 4,845 |
| KFC | 1952 | $7.5B | 820,000 | 6,687 |
| Panera Bread | 1981 | $2.8B | 140,000 | 3,795 |
| Pizza Hut | 1958 | $7.5B | 350,000 | 10,093 |
| Qdoba | 1995 | $437.2M | 16,000 | 1,163 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 4,246 |
| Red Lobster | 1968 | $2.6B | 55,000 | 2,134 |
| Johnny Rockets | 1986 | $47.8M | 1,611 | 38 |
| Mr Goodcents Franchise Systems Inc | - | $1.6M | 30 | - |
Subway history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Subway, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Subway. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Subway. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Subway. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Subway and its employees or that of Zippia.
Subway may also be known as or be related to Doctor's Associates Inc, Doctor's Associates Inc., Pete's Super Submarines (1965–1968), Subway and Subway IP LLC.