Subway Closures Explained

Alpha8472
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Subway Closures Explained

Post by Alpha8472 »

I now realize why so many busy Subway stores in prime locations near me closed down. Competition between stores and people getting other stores in trouble.

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article ... 076769.php

Subway corporate needs to get involved. Many sales have been lost in the busy San Francisco Bay Area due to these closures. Subway is losing sales and hard working store owners are losing their life savings.

There was a busy Subway restaurant inside of a subway train station in downtown Oakland, California that closed. Thousands of people passed by that restaurant daily. Subway lost a ton of money there, and it was a perfectly decent restaurant. It still sits abandoned.
storewanderer
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by storewanderer »

Clearly there is some kind of a disconnect between the field people and corporate and it seems a little odd to me that a franchisee is in charge of checking on other franchisees. I feel like that should be a corporate employee who is neutral and not having some sort of motive (like getting franchisees in trouble then assuming operations of those stores).

Checking reviews for some locations of the franchisee in question there in Orinda I am not seeing exactly positive reviews, and also seeing some review saying that Orinda site was not accepting Subway-issued coupons. I don't have much patience for these franchise operators who do not accept corporate coupons. If you don't want to participate in your franchisor's programs, don't buy a franchise. Open Bob's Subs and don't issue any coupons and see how that works out.
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by rwsandiego »

Alpha8472 wrote: July 7th, 2019, 9:08 pm...Subway corporate needs to get involved. ...
Seems doubtful that will happen, given the article's mention of Subway's founder/owner bullying franchisees and his sister having taken the reins since his death. I never liked Subway until one opened in my former San Diego neighborhood. THAT store was good. Aside from two in Mission Valley and one in Serra Mesa, the rest were terrible.
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by SamSpade »

I went back after they were (testing?) adding regional ingredients. They briefly had a Tillamook cheddar available (for extra charge / specialty sandwich only) as well as (honestly more importantly) a new pickle variety.

Not only were the workers at my local location really friendly, the new pickles really gave the sandwiches a nice lift. Kind of like when Wendy's revamped their pickles several years ago, I started to prefer their food a bit more.

Unfortunately, the test must not have done well so the regional ingredients (cheese, mustard, pickles) all left. After returning to the regular items, I have tried the store 2 times, mainly out of desperation. The store is clean, the employees nice. It wasn't enough. No more money from me.

One nearby Subway has recently closed. It never seemed busy and the neighborhood seems to have more Asian-American families so I think other nearby options were receiving more business.
Alpha8472
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by Alpha8472 »

Subway has changed its tune. Now they are concerned about franchisees closing their stores. Over 1000 subway stores closed last year. At this rate the chain will be in bad shape. The corporate office now is demanding an explanation for why each store is closing. They are also thinking about enforcing the 20 year lease requirement.

I have seen many abandoned Subway stores that are not reopening.
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by pseudo3d »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 14th, 2019, 3:22 pm They are also thinking about enforcing the 20 year lease requirement.
Since Subway is entirely concerned with selling franchises, and the big benefit is that stores are cheap to operate with a comparatively small footprint, having a 20 year lease requirement will just hurt new store openings.
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by Super S »

pseudo3d wrote: November 14th, 2019, 5:52 pm
Alpha8472 wrote: November 14th, 2019, 3:22 pm They are also thinking about enforcing the 20 year lease requirement.
Since Subway is entirely concerned with selling franchises, and the big benefit is that stores are cheap to operate with a comparatively small footprint, having a 20 year lease requirement will just hurt new store openings.
On the other hand, this might weed out some of the operators that shouldn't really be running a restaurant in the first place and lead to a little more consistency. I would rather see a few less locations if it would lead to a better, more consistent experience. There are a handful of really well-run locations, but there are many that I sometimes wonder how they manage to stay open.
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by storewanderer »

20 year leases are a little tough with landlords too, for these types of spaces. This does not seem practical.

I'm not sure where they are going with this.

Also with the rate at which locations are closing, I think it will be kind of hard to control this...
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by Alpha8472 »

I agree that if people are forced to run a Subway for 20 years, practically no one would want to open up a Subway. Renewals are every 5 years, and up until now the Corporate office let people walk away after 5 years. Now, if they walk away from the 20 year agreement they will be fined heavily.

Perhaps, it would weed out the people who would be bad at running stores. However, then again there would be fewer stores.

From a customer perspective, the stores and the food need so many improvements. I don't even know where to begin. I just got a coupon for $2 via email, but the thought of walking into a Subway does not appeal to me. Do any stores even accept coupons anymore?
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Re: Subway Closures Explained

Post by Super S »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 14th, 2019, 10:08 pm I agree that if people are forced to run a Subway for 20 years, practically no one would want to open up a Subway. Renewals are every 5 years, and up until now the Corporate office let people walk away after 5 years. Now, if they walk away from the 20 year agreement they will be fined heavily.

Perhaps, it would weed out the people who would be bad at running stores. However, then again there would be fewer stores.

From a customer perspective, the stores and the food need so many improvements. I don't even know where to begin. I just got a coupon for $2 via email, but the thought of walking into a Subway does not appeal to me. Do any stores even accept coupons anymore?
I don't have a problem walking into Subway. I do have a problem though when the ingredients such as meats, cheeses, and produce do not really stand out and have more of a "manufactured" feel to them. Yes, what they offer makes sense from a consistency standpoint but the chain lacks consistency on so many levels.

One problem with Subway is how many locations are close together. I know of some areas where there are easily 4-5 Subway locations within a 2-3 mile radius, some which are highly visible, high-volume locations, others which are not as visible and are lower volume. The good and bad Subways are in both categories. I think some of these areas would be candidates for weeding out the bad operators. And I think Subway needs to have a better corporate presence to actually make sure the franchises are representing the brand properly.
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