Fast food sandwich retailer, Subway has revealed plans to open 150 new stores in unconventional commercial spaces across the United Kingdom and Ireland over the next 5 years. Unconventional commercial properties include airports, bus and railway stations, business centres, cinemas, colleges, convenience stores, department stores, hotels, internet cafes, petrol stations, military bases, motorway service stations and Universities.
These commercial spaces are idea for Subway as the retailer can be adapted to fit into any existing commercial property as Trevor Haynes, Area Development Agent for Subway in the UK and Ireland, stated: “The simple operations, minimal space and equipment requirements, mean that our stores are uniquely suited for non-traditional sites. This form of growth will be an integral part of the chain’s development, overall expansion and on-going strategy over the next five years in the UK and Ireland.”
Subway has many stores located in unconventional commercial spaces all over the world, such as a Baptist Church in Buffalo, United States of America and also on a riverboat on the Rhine in Germany for example.
Along with unconventional commercial spaces, subway is planning a £60 million investment to open 600 new commercial shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland by the end of 2012. Subway has already opened 22 new outlets in the past month, costing more than £2 million and the growth is set to continue.
Subway was originally started in 1965 by Fred DeLuca when he was only 17 years old. He formed a partnership with Dr. Peter Buck who lent him $1000 to start the Subway business. They opened their first store in Bridgeport, Connecticut and started franchising in 1974 and have not looked back since. Subway came to the United Kingdom in 2000 and opened 25 stores that year. Since then they have opened an average of five stores a week. Today subway has 34,937 stores in 97 different countries.
