Remember the sandwich shop that was called out for going cheap on its ingredients? Hiding from its customers and critics? Had its Bread ruled ‘cake’ in Ireland for having too much sugar? Yup. It was Subway. And the chain might just be for sale…
Subway’s most recent store interior redesign: ‘Fresh Forward’, débuted back in 2017…
Among the chain’s other problems, was the time someone sued the chain for serving ‘Foot-Long’ sandwiches that were only 11 in. long.
But the brand bulled through. In fact it’s name is currently on 37,000 locations in more than 100 countries.
Sale still a cloudy issue
“As a privately held company, we don’t comment on ownership structure and business plans,” Subway said in an email. “We continue to be focused on moving the brand forward with our transformational journey to help our franchisees be successful and profitable.”
Subway has long been a potential target for private equity firms, as well as other corporations,” the Financial Post remarked in an article earlier this month.
However, the fact that the company even admitted that it was considering the latest purchase overture surprised – even shocked – some.
Is the purchase deal sincere?
Or is Subway just trying to stir up some publicity?
After all, the company had begun to bounce back from a number of bumps in its road by last fall, Financial Post noted: “Last October, Subway said it had experienced positive growth over the previous 18 months as the chain revamped its image with the ‘Eat Fresh’ campaign that included new bread recipes, aimed at improving consumers’ perception of the chain and [new and renewed] ingredients. The company said that digital sales, which include orders made online and via mobile apps, have bolstered results.”
For the record, all major Fast Food brands have been hammering their fans to embrace new business models. Barely a week goes by that one or another – or several – big chains – don’t launch new enticements to switch the faithful from eating-in and counter-ordering, to ordering and paying online via mobile apps and their websites, and using the drive-thru or delivery services…
My theory…
… About what’s behind the interest in a sale, is the original 10 Connecticut physcians – who founded the Subway core company, Doctor’s Partners, with the idea of selling healthy, economical and maybe even revolutionary grab-and-go fare back in 1965 – are ready to retire and want to take their much-swollen investments out of the firm. a leveraged buy-out would be perfect for them, if I have guessed their objective correctly. Anyway. We’ll watch with a curiosity hardly ever matched in modern times, and let you know what happens when and if it does…
~ Maggie J.