The Subway® Restaurant Chain Again Named Number One Franchise

The Subway® Restaurant Chain Again Named Number One Franchise
Milford, CT, February 02, 2005 --(PR.com)-- For an incredible 13th time in 17 years, the SUBWAY® restaurant chain has been ranked the number one franchise opportunity in Entrepreneur magazine’s 26th Annual “Franchise 500” rankings.

“It feels like winning the Super Bowl, but this league is a lot more competitive,” said Fred DeLuca, president and co-founder of the SUBWAY® restaurant chain. “In football, they only have 32 teams and you have 500 teams in the Entrepreneur rankings. So it really gives us a good feeling for all the work we put in over the past year.”

Fred points out that there are thousands of individual SUBWAY® restaurant success stories which together help fulfill a dream of making the SUBWAY® chain the number one restaurant franchise, in both customer service and number of locations, in every market served.

Nichole L. Torres, of Entrepreneur magazine, writes, “DeLuca has led SUBWAY® not just to astronomical business success, but also to cultural-icon status. Today, businesses want to emulate SUBWAY®’s success. Franchise industry insiders don’t ponder who will be the next McDonald’s, but who will be the next SUBWAY®.”

The “Franchise 500” rankings are the most comprehensive franchise rankings in the world and considers many factors, including financial strength and stability, growth rate, the size of the system and start-up costs..

The SUBWAY® chain was ranked number 219 in Entrepreneur’s first “Franchise 500” listing 26 years ago. Since then, thousands have embraced their inner-entrepreneurial spirit and have opened their own SUBWAY® franchise. Don Fertman, Director of Franchise Sales, said, “The appeal of the SUBWAY® franchise is universal; with low investment, a simple operation and unparalleled support for the franchisees.”

This number one ranking in Entrepreneur magazine comes at the end of a busy year for the SUBWAY® chain. Fresh toasted subs have been introduced and will be in every restaurant in North America by the start of 2005. The chain recently surpassed the number of McDonald’s locations in Australia. In July, Fred and SUBWAY® weight loss spokesman Jared Fogle were in Washington, D.C., to announce an expanded partnership with the American Heart Association and to introduce the SUBWAY® F.R.E.S.H. Steps Childhood Obesity Prevention initiative, the details of which can be found on the chain’s web site at www.subway.com.

With 22,500 restaurants in 78 countries, the SUBWAY® sandwich chain opened its 4,000th “non-traditional” location, which means you can find a SUBWAY® restaurant in such places as convenience stores, college campuses and schools, athletic clubs, hospitals, airports and department stores. You can even find a SUBWAY® restaurant in a car dealership, laundromats and in a church.

The SUBWAY® restaurant chain is the world's largest submarine sandwich franchise. In 2002, the SUBWAY® chain surpassed McDonald’s in the number of restaurants open in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Milford, Conn., the SUBWAY® restaurant chain was co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck in 1965. That partnership marked the beginning of a remarkable journey—one that made it possible for thousands of individuals to build and succeed in their own business.

For more information about the SUBWAY® restaurant chain, visit www.subway.com.

SUBWAY® is a registered trademark of Doctor’s Associates Inc.

Contact Information:
SUBWAY® Public Relations
(203) 877-4281
Kevin Kane Ext.1329
kane_k@subway.com
Les Winograd Ext. 1683
winograd_l@subway.com

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