Quiznos Expanding With 30 New Restaurants

[buckguy]

I've seen a couple new Quiznos in the last year which seemed odd, although the last one in downtown DC also closed. The new owners must be aggressively trying to add locations. They were everywhere and then seemed to vanish almost overnight---changes in ownership, litigation with franchisees. Subway heating their subs was probably the least of their problems. Now there are tons of sandwich chains, with and without toasting, and many of them weren't in great shape before COVID and they're not doing well now.

If Phoenix is having a boom in these, hopefully, you'll get some strong locals rather than just faltering operations like Whichwich (which lasted less than a year here). The better sandwich places in DC are locally owned and seem to be surviving better than the chains.

[storewanderer]

Something I read said Quiznos is down to only 170 locations in the US as of mid 2022. I had no idea they had gotten that small.

I wonder how a chain of that size can even add 30 new locations. I also am surprised it is even worth anyone's while to support 170 locations. I wonder how these last locations are in terms of having actual brand support/consistent ingredients etc. I do see there is a single unit left in a part of Reno I don't spend much time in, but it has decent reviews, so obviously an operator who really wants to have that location.

The prices at this location that is left in Reno are pretty bad with 8 inch being over $10 on most flavors of sandwiches and the small 4 inch not being much less. One thing I did notice is they have a "pick 2" option where you get a half salad and a 4 inch sandwich at 8.95. I recall Quizno's salads being very good, so this may be a good value and may well be what is keeping the location afloat as it is a lower income part of town. That area also has the only open Arby's in Reno but it is rarely busy and is so slow.....

I always liked some of the combinations Quizno's offered on its subs. The flavors seemed to come together really well between bread, sauces, and the components. I can customize something that strikes me as very similar at Firehouse, after significant attitude from the order taker as I rattle off the customization options from their option listing.

One thing here is how much brand recognition does Quizno's have that these other chains don't? For instance in Reno there is no Potbelly, many people I talk to have never heard of Potbelly. Same for Jason's Deli. Quizno's given it was at one time with 5,000+ units I believe still has some brand recognition among a large segment of customers. The food wasn't the reason this brand failed, it was the reason it grew to 5,000 units in the first place...

[jamcool]

Those weird ads with the flat hamsters with guitars didn’t help.

[storewanderer]

Those weird ads with the flat hamsters with guitars didn’t help.

Another example of bad franchisor- marketing that was just creepy.

Many locations were poorly run. I have to assume these few remaining locations must be exceptionally well run to be able to survive given the circumstances surrounding this chain.

For example I had a location I went to from time to time until about 2012. It was solid on the food, franchisee always there, and did a good job. It was obviously relying on paying employees minimum wage and some things like cleanliness and service weren't perfect but passable. The location always had quite a bit of business. The location was sold around 2016 or 2017 and absolutely tanked under new franchisee/management, and may have been sold a second time before closing for good. I think a lot of the locations lost in that period after about 2012, were lost due to poor operations. Clearly the corporate had no control over a lot of franchisees and had no clue how to run its system.

[BillyGr]

Those weird ads with the flat hamsters with guitars didn’t help.

You mean the spongemonkeys? Obviously, they had to be somewhat memorable if people still remember them even years later, which is part of the idea of advertising...

[storewanderer]

Decided to go to that lone Reno Quiznos that is still open. Business seems very slow, but steady enough for it to stay open, I guess. Inside has received a new floor at some point in the past decade but everything else looks just like Quiznos did 10-15 years ago.

There were two employees who were friendly and efficient, the location around the ordering area, dining area, prep area, and cash register was clean. The drink station was sad with an unstocked refrigerator for I'm not sure what, a broken lemonade bubbler, and a single iced tea urn that I am not sure if it had tea or not but it looked forgotten like the lemonade bubbler. They used to have a good tropical tea (in addition to plain tea) but that must be long gone. The drink station was also fully stocked with utensils, napkins, etc.

The sandwich was just as I remember it- bread was warm and edges slightly crunchy, meat lukewarm, cheese melted. Taste was great. Vegetables were fresh. Really like that Rosemary Parmesan bread. They key here is to consume the sandwich immediately after receiving it. Price is high at about $10 for 8 inch (some flavor of the day is 6.95 daily) but I guess they need this price to stay open. I am not sure how much meat the sandwich had, but I don't think it was 4 ounces. I don't care for a heavy amount of meat so this is fine but I think the value perception is impacted by the meat portion being small. This was definitely not as filling as a Firehouse Sub yet was a little bit more expensive. But this tasted more interesting than Firehouse. Pepper bar was still there and had only banana peppers, pickles, did not see any sauces.

The employees were in uniforms that said Quiznos and name badges that said Quiznos but other than that the only supplies branded were small drink cups and the sandwich wrappers. The large drink cups, soup cups, bags, napkins, etc. were all just generic/no branding. It kind of feels like this is really barely a chain anymore.

Also they had a rack at the cash register for cookies, brownies, etc. but it was completely empty with nothing on it. I recall those items being thaw and sell at Quiznos in the distant past, not sure if that has changed, but if that is the case it is odd they would not have anything out there. I did not ask about it, maybe they don't put any out to reduce waste.

I certainly hope this location can hang on, because they get the product right. Whoever owns this must really like Quiznos because there is no way this location is turning much of a profit. It is really too bad what happened to this brand. It was and still is a great product.

[Alpha8472]

I liked Quiznos better than Subway years ago when they were still open. I still remember the Quiznos name even though all of them in my area closed down.

The sandwiches are pretty good, but only if the franchisee really runs the location well. Hopefully the Arizona stores can be run better than some of the failed locations.

[storewanderer]

I liked Quiznos better than Subway years ago when they were still open. I still remember the Quiznos name even though all of them in my area closed down.

The sandwiches are pretty good, but only if the franchisee really runs the location well. Hopefully the Arizona stores can be run better than some of the failed locations.

My guess is at this point- if there is an open Quizno's, it has to be pretty good. There is no way a location could survive this long under a brand with the supply cost issues this brand has, zero marketing, if it does not have a good product and some degree of a loyal customer base. I see the bay area has a couple odd locations left in Richmond and Hayward. Neither appear to do much business so it is interesting they stay open.

I also see they have basically nothing left in AZ or OR, but a cluster of locations in WA including a couple in Vancouver and a few around Seattle, then nothing in ID, MT, etc.

I think with some marketing efforts to direct people to the remaining location in a given metro area they could really increase brand awareness for these existing locations which in my view are struggling but manage to stay open at least at the present time. It doesn't cost much to do ads on Facebook or various other online areas to solicit online/delivery orders.

[Brian Lutz]

I know there's a Quizno's on Broadway in Everett that's been hanging on. I never went there, but I see that the Google reviews are rather mixed.

In the meantime it seems like Potbelly has filled in the niche that Quizno's has vacated in a lot of spots in that area. Those stores always seem busy during the lunch rush when I'm there.

[storewanderer]

I know there's a Quizno's on Broadway in Everett that's been hanging on. I never went there, but I see that the Google reviews are rather mixed.

In the meantime it seems like Potbelly has filled in the niche that Quizno's has vacated in a lot of spots in that area. Those stores always seem busy during the lunch rush when I'm there.

I like Potbelly but I don't encounter many locations out west. This is a brand many people I talk to have never heard of. I think Quizno's has a better tasting product than Potbelly. However, Potbelly certainly has a better cookie program (since they bake in the store) and Potbelly seems to be lower priced. One key at present, is about 90% of Potbelly units are corporate owned (not franchise). However Potbelly wants to grow aggressively like 5x its current unit count, by franchising units going forward... we will see how that plays out...

I am not sure about this Quizno's attempt to re-expand. They have built a new concept store in Hobbs, New Mexico and it has an expanded menu including chicken strips (it has a deep fryer) among other odd items.
I don't understand adding new items when existing unit volumes are so low and food cost has been an ongoing issue for this chain over the years. These sandwich concepts rely on the assembly line format to get orders through quickly since they tend to have high customer counts during very short time periods. Throwing in grills and fryers completely messes up the flow.
https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/quizno ... new-mexico
This new store is located at 1615 W. Millen in Hobbs (there is an existing unit elsewhere in Hobbs).
I also see Hobbs has a new concept looking Schlotzksy's so Hobbs seems to be a good sandwich market.

That Everett Quiznos is well liked on Yelp but not many recent reviews. Place must barely hang on. I took a similar chance on Reno one (reviews on Yelp and Google more negative than Everett) and the Classic Italian on the Rosemary bread definitely tastes as good as it always did. Really, really good. That bread seals the deal for an exceptionally flavorful sandwich. The oven is doing a good job heating the sandwiches up very fully (that is an issue I noticed 10-15 years ago where the level of heat temperature was inconsistent from location to location). Can't speak for the other items- I think the supply chain is not the same as it once was. The chicken they have does not look like their chicken used to 10 years ago (it used to look like seasoned tenderloin slices- now it looks like plain white cubes) and the bacon they use is in bits instead of whole slices.