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May 3, 2023

Subway closed 571 stores in 2022 but plans openings for this year

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED 1 Corporate Drive in Shelton, the site of Subway's new global HQ.
By Liese Klein

The Subway sandwich chain, with headquarters in both Milford and Florida, shut down 571 U.S. restaurants in 2022 as part of ongoing efforts to streamline operations, according to a report by the Reuters news service. 

The report comes as executives explore a sale of Subway, which was founded in Connecticut and long based in Milford. A Wall Street Journal article valued the company in February at more than $10 billion.

Last year’s closings totaled 2.7% of Subway’s U.S. sandwich shops as of the beginning of 2022.

Reuters obtained an internal document that showed that the chain had 20,576 restaurants nationwide by the end of 2022, a decline of 6,196 outlets since 2016. 

Subway said in a statement that the closings were part of a long-term plan to transform the company, with a goal to increase new restaurant openings in North America by 35% in 2023. 

“We have spent the past two years optimizing our footprint by using a strategic, data-driven approach to ensure restaurants are in the right location, image and format,” a spokesperson said. “The slowdown in closures is an expected result of the progress we have made to get back to smart growth, which will boost franchisee profitability and protect our position in the market.”

In a statement last month from Miami, the chain’s new “dual headquarters,” Subway reported that its first-quarter sales in North America were up 11.7%, with the top 75% of locations (about 17,000 restaurants) up 17.9%.

Miami-based CEO John Chidsey implemented a turnaround plan for Subway in 2021 that includes a modernized menu, renovated stores and a series of celebrity-studded advertising campaigns. The company has also invested in a revamped digital ordering system.

Subway is in the process of relocating its Milford operations to Shelton, where the company has leased 90,000 square feet at the flagship office tower at the heart of the Enterprise Corporate Park in Shelton built by R.D. Scinto, Inc.

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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