The slow death of Quizno's ?

[jamcool]

The was an article on one of the business news websites listing the 10 dead and/or dying retailers..such as Borders, Blockbuster, etc. Listed along with those was Quizno's Subs, stating that it was closing free standing stores(true)ang moving towards mini mart/gas station sites. Apparently, their higher priced, better quality (IMHO)sandwiches couldn't compete with $5-foot-longs at Subway.

I've noticed a bunch of Quizno's close in my area and their bizarre TV ads are no longer seen.

[Alpha8472]

Quizno's restaurants are mostly franchises. The local owners who run these stores often complain about how hard it is to make a profit. Customers complain about these franchises because many of them don't honor Quizno's corporate coupons. The local owners say that the coupons cause them to lose out on money.

Subway is much more successful with their $5 footlongs. Quiznos sandwiches lack the made-to-order qualities of Subway. At Subway, the person makes your sandwich and asks you what ingredients you want every step of the way.

Quiznos has a menu and they usually stick to the ingredients. It is much more difficult to request different ingredients. Their sandwiches seem smaller. Their prices aren't very good either.

The only way I can see Quizno's surviving is to change their format to be an exact copy of Subway. Start a $5 sandwich deal and advertise it well.

Quizno's commercials have been awful. There are some that you just can't watch without cringing. This is a case where a commercial is so bad that you want to avoid the restaurant for life. Their own commercials have doomed them.

[tesg]

I noticed last week that they've shrunk the sandwiches (again) and discontinued red onions in favor of cheaper white onions.

Having said that, Quizno's is in no danger of disappearing. Better franchisees are doing quite well. But expect a decline in store numbers. A lot of people not experienced in restaurants got talked into franchising when they had no business in the industry.

Quizno's will survive, but they've pretty well hit their peak.

[Brian Lutz]

It's not even just Subway they're competing with. There's a Quizno's within a block of my office, and I haven't ever really had a reason to go there. I do know that the Jimmy John's in the building of my lobby seems to always be packed at lunchtime though, so I imagine a lot of the sandwich business is going there. There are also a couple of Subways nearby, but I don't see a whole lot of people there all that often.

[Super S]

I have eaten at Quizno's exactly one time, when they first appeared in my area. I have many allergies and for this reason I am unable to eat certain items, and most dressings fall into this category as well. Quizno's did not want to deviate at all from their main menu but after putting up a fuss they made a sandwich the way I requested. I was unimpressed by the quality, size of the sandwich, and most importantly, the price. Subway is far more accomodating. Frankly, I would not miss Quizno's at all if they folded.

[Brian Lutz]

Recently, I've noticed that several more Quizno's locations around here have shut down. Part of this is getting rid of redundant locations (some within as little as two blocks of each other) but it looks like a lot of this is just owners abandoning them. My uncle owns a Sub Zero ice cream store in Federal Way (the only one in Washington to date) which was opened in a former Quizno's store.

[Super S]

Recently, I've noticed that several more Quizno's locations around here have shut down. Part of this is getting rid of redundant locations (some within as little as two blocks of each other) but it looks like a lot of this is just owners abandoning them. My uncle owns a Sub Zero ice cream store in Federal Way (the only one in Washington to date) which was opened in a former Quizno's store.

Actually, there is a Sub Zero shop in Longview, which opened in the past year in a former Cold Stone location.

[Alpha8472]

I haven't seen any Quiznos commercials in a long time. Subway on the other hand is advertising like crazy. They have ads on many websites and constantly advertise their $5 footlongs.

I don't know the prices of sandwiches at Quiznos and most people probably don't either. Do they even have a $5 footlong at Quiznos?

The problem with Quiznos is that they don't have a dollar menu. People want cheap $1 snack items and fast to-go foods. Quiznos sandwiches take much longer to prepare and you can't get a meal for $2 or $3.

Burger restaurants usually have fries, milkshakes, ice cream, sundaes, yogurt parfaits, coffee drinks, mochas, etc. Quiznos lacks these popular items. The only desserts at Quiznos are cookies and brownies. Instead of fries, you have only bags of chips. Anyone can go to a supermarket and buy a huge bag of chips for much less money. The limited menu is killing Quiznos along with the high prices.

[storewanderer]

I used to go to Quiznos fairly often when we had more open in my area as a couple were really convenient and I used to keep getting coupons (which they accepted). I never had any problems omitting ingredients or even deviating from the sauce designated on the sandwiches. With that said, I felt the quality of the food was declining, and the size of the sandwiches seemed to get smaller at least twice. The locations were not the cleanest places, either. The main reason I stopped going was due to the locations closing.

I believe my market is down to about 4 locations. There were probably about 15 at the height. Blimpie had a similar rise and fall in my market (now down to 1 location) some time ago. The dynamic is a bit different here due to Port of Subs being based here and having a lot of locations with a loyal following, but this hasn't stopped Subways from popping up literally everywhere, often not even 1/2 mile apart...

[Brian Lutz]

Subway seems to be going for the Starbucks approach of cramming stores into every location they can manage. Back when I worked here in Downtown Bellevue there were at least five Subways within a few blocks of where I worked (eventually one closed, but there are still four of them last time I checked.) Then again, this is also Starbucks' home turf around here, so those are even more ubiquitous. There's 12 of those within roughly the same radius.