There’s one McDonald’s in Warren County. There’s one Taco Bell and one Burger King.
But Warren County has three Subways.
An abundance of Subway restaurants is one reason the chain closed 909 locations in 2017, according to Business Insider, with plans to close about 900 more in 2018.
Subway currently operates more than 25,800 locations in the United States, making it a restaurant behemoth. In comparison, there are about 14,000 McDonald’s in America.
According to information published in The New York Post, traffic at Subway stores nationwide has declined about 25 percent over the past five years. This has led to speculation the once-blossoming chain is in decline.
The national trend is not indicative of Subway business locally, according to Sam Nuthalapoty, who owns the Subway franchise in Morrison near Bridgestone.
“Business has been strong for me and I think it’s good at all three Subways in Warren County,” said Nuthalapoty. “Business has been a little slow in December, but it’s always slow in December because they aren’t working as much at Bridgestone. I think next year is going to be a really good year for Subway as we work through a leadership change.”
Nuthalapoty said he believes Subway, as a chain, is still looking to find its direction after the death of co-founder Fred DeLuca two years ago. His sister, Suzanne Greco, is now running the chain.
“Fred founded it and Subway was his baby,” said Nuthalapoty. “When he got sick, he wasn’t able to devote as much time to it as he did before and now his sister has taken over. I like to think of it as the Green Bay Packers when Brett Favre left. We’re hoping his sister is like Aaron Rodgers.”
In an effort to generate more foot traffic, Subway announced it is bringing back the $5 footlong deal. It’s not news which was embraced throughout the chain as Business Insider reported about 400 franchisees are protesting the move because it eats into profits.
Nuthalapoty is not one of the franchise owners who is protesting.
“The $5 footlong is great and it’s cool. I love it,” said Nuthalapoty. “I don’t know why other franchises don’t like it. I think it helps.”
Subway made huge gains in the restaurant industry by billing itself as the fresh and healthier alternative to fast food. But some voices in the chain say that freshness is growing stale because most stores only get produce delivered once or twice a week.
One franchisee interviewed by Business Insider said the company’s reliance on specific suppliers and refusal to entertain the idea of adding fresher options is especially frustrating as customers demand higher-quality food.
While some sandwich rivals have managed impressive growth through innovation, such as Arby’s, Subway’s sandwich lineup hasn’t seen any flashy changes as sales have slumped in recent years.
In addition, more grocery chains have added takeaway sandwich options to their deli offerings, making it easy to grab a sub during regular grocery shopping and avoiding an extra trip to Subway. And with so many Subway locations, some stores are competing against each other.
To help transform its image, Subway is rolling out a new store design and encouraging franchisees to remodel locations across the U.S. Subway is also trying to catch up with competitors with an upcoming digitally focused loyalty program.
