Less than sixty days after completing its sale to an Atlanta-based firm, Subway is reportedly looking to grow its presence in Georgia. Subway, which has roughly 37,000 restaurants worldwide, announced April 30 that it had completed its $9.6 billion sale to affiliates of Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group.
This week brought news that real estate brokerage Franklin Street is scouting new locations in Georgia for the chain as it looks to once again grow in the state. According to the Subway website, Georgia is already home to 710 locations, making it the chain's seventh largest U.S. market by unit count. California, Texas, and Florida are the chain's three largest markets with 2020, 1821, and 1206 locations, respectively.
Subway is able to operate so many locations because in reality, it doesn't operate any. Each restaurant is independently owned by local franchisees with several opting - likely for financial reasons - to open restaurants within other businesses such as those within Walmart or various convenience stores. The low barriers to entry and the willingness of Subway corporate to allow for many locations in a single geographic area have allowed the brand to become one of the biggest restaurant chains in the world.
In metro Atlanta, Subway has over the past decade or so closed several high profile and well-located restaurants such as those along Peachtree Road in Brookhaven, in both Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, and Downtown near Centennial Olympic Park. The company also closed restaurants on Shallowford Road in East Cobb, Bolton Road near so the so-called "Upper Westside," and on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, among others.
According to Franklin Street, the company is now looking to grow via four specific unit types: Freestanding, inline, endcap and Drive-Thru. The new Subway restaurants will be 1,200 to 1,800 square feet with preference given to locations that offer outdoor dining and are located with grocery-anchored and similar "daily needs" centers, according to the Franklin Street materials.
Quiznos has all but given up the ghost, highlighted by its recent closure in Midtown, leaving the once high-flying Subway competitor with just one location - near Georgia State University - left open in the state. Rival Jersey Mike's Subs, however, has been on a growth spurt as of late and now has 118 locations open across the state with another 15 coming soon, according to its website.
To help reignite interest in the brand, Subway earlier this January introduced three new "Sidekicks," a collection of footlong churros (by Cinnabon), pretzels (by Auntie Anne's), and cookies. (Both Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's are franchises owned by GoTo Foods, another Roark-owned entity.)
"The introduction of Sidekicks builds on six decades of equity and expertise in all things footlong," said Douglas Fry, President of Subway North America at the time of the Sidekicks introduction. "This whole new category on our menu offers Subway fans something they can't get anywhere else and kicks off a year of culinary innovation and delicious new menu items. 2024 may be the most exciting chapter yet in our growth story," Fry added.
Subway joins a growing list of quick-serve restaurants looking to enter or grow in metro Atlanta. It will be interesting to see where they are able to secure space.
What chain sandwich shop do you think offers the best product? What sandwich shop - including those not currently here like Ike's, Wawa, and Potbelly - would you most like to see come to metro Atlanta? When was the last time you had a Subway sub?
Please share your thoughts below.