The most franchised company in the world isn’t McDonald’s or Starbucks

Despite the seeming ubiquity of McDonald’s Golden Arches and the
Starbucks’ twin-tailed mermaid, sandwich chain Subway actually has the
most locations of any restaurant worldwide. In 2017, Subway had 43,912
stores around the world, beating second-place McDonald’s at 37,241 and
third-place Starbucks at 27,339 locations.

This number, however, belies the economic reality: while McDonald’s
and Starbucks have mostly grown their sales every year for the last five
years, Subway sales have been slipping since 2014, and foot traffic is
down 7.6 percent over the last 12 months, according to food industry
market research firm Technomic. Shortly after this slump began, Subway
started closing stores. More than 350 were shuttered in 2016; more than
800 in 2017; and another 500 in 2018.

Industry analysts point to a few reasons for this, but especially a
lack of innovation. While McDonald’s and Starbucks continually create
new products and store designs to evolve along with changing consumer
preferences, Subway lags behind. Last summer, the sandwich shop
announced its first major redesign, Fresh Forward, in nearly 20 years.

Recently, CEO Suzanne Greco, younger sister of Subway founder Fred
DeLuca, retired. As the company searches for its first non-DeLuca family
member CEO since its founding in 1965, many are wondering whether this
change can turn the tide for the world’s most prolific restaurant chain.
Trevor Haynes, who headed up the chain’s business development, is
serving as chief executive on an interim basis.