Over the past 4 years, the beloved godfather of fast casual eats has taken a nosedive of monstrous proportions.
The company has all but turned their “Eat Fresh” modus operandi into a joke after gaining a reputation for serving flimsy produce and “mystery meat”, while their golden boy marketing boss, Karlin Linhardt, resigned in December after less than a year with the company.
And lest we forget, Jared Fogle…
That’s only the tip of the iceberg lettuce
The struggle is real over in sandwichville.
Subway’s US store count fell by more than 900 in 2017, and national sales declined for the 4th straight year. In the midst of this chaos, Subway’s great counteraction strategy was to bring back the coveted $5 footlong promotion.
Subway exec slams head into idea board, “fiiine.”
But to franchisees, it wasn’t fine. More than 400 locations signed a petition against it, claiming the $5 deal is what destroyed the business in the first place.
Let’s brace for more closures
According to Business Insider, store owners foresee 100s of additional stores closing in 2018 and are worried that up to one-third of Subway locations in the US could soon be unprofitable.
As one store owner lamented: “I have sadly watched my peers close their doors… It is inevitable that I will do the same in the near future… this was my retirement, and now, well, it’s over.”
To make matters worse, there’s a mutiny going on at corporate
Subway employees feel the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of Subway CEO Suzanne Greco and other upper-management personnel.
In fact, many speculate the real story behind Linhardt’s resignation was the backlash against the footlong promotion, while other sources close to the situation claim he was ousted by an alliance of execs with differing ideas for the future of Subway.
Leaving us all to wonder: what is Subway’s future?
