Subway to open 1,000 more outlets

Fastfood chain Subway plans to pick up the pace of openings in Europe by adding as many as 1,000 new locations in 2014.

The sandwich shop operator has 4,018 stores in Europe, where it has continued to grow during the continent’s recession and wobbly recovery, assistant regional director Mike Charest said.

The Connecticut-based company has opened about 500 stores a year in Europe for the past two years, and may add 800 to 1,000 next year.

“Europe is the strongest, fastest-growing international market for Subway outside of north America, and will continue to be,” Mr Charest said. Subway’s strategy “works for us regardless of economic situation” by balancing affordability with high-quality food.

The UK and Ireland is at the “top of the list” for growth in Europe, with a goal to have 2,000 outlets by 2015, the executive said. Subway has added 63 locations in the UK in 2013 to take the number to 1,544, up from 59 openings in 2012. Growth may also quicken in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, where at least 20 stores have been opened in each country in 12 months.

The company aims to be in Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine by the end of this year. Ukraine has similar growth potential to Romania, which has 16 stores after the first opened in Apr 2012, said Peter Mompalao de Piro, a Subway spokesman.

Strong brand awareness in the UK, Russia and France helps development in those countries, Charest said. Subway plans to add 190 to 200 stores in Russia and 100 in France in 2014.

Subway’s European expansion doesn’t pose a problem for hamburger chains like McDonald’s and Burger King, given the company’s focus on deli sandwiches, Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co in St Louis, said. !

“The pie is big enough for everybody,” said Mr Russo.

- Bloomberg