The History of Subway Sandwiches

In recent years, Subway may best be known for Jared, the advertising face of Subway who lost a great deal of weight, it is said, by eating healthy at Subway Sandwich Shops. In fact, Subway and Jared have now teamed up with the government to fight childhood obesity, opening another page in Subway history. However, over four decades ago, before the tens of thousands of stores and before Jared, there was Fred DeLuca, a high school graduate looking for a way to fund his college education. Subway history begins with DeLuca.

History

Subway Sandwich shops began in 1965 when a recent high school graduate named Fred DeLuca decided he needed to find a way to pay for his college education. Working at a minimum-wage job, he realized that something more would be needed to achieve his goal of attending college. Fortunately, that summer, an old family friend moved back to town and came to visit his family. DeLuca took a chance on asking the doctor, Peter Buck, for some advice about paying for college.

Opportunity

The idea of opening a submarine sandwich shop actually came from Buck as a way for DeLuca to make enough money to go to college. Buck offered DeLuca $1,000 as an investment in the business that DeLuca was to plan, open and operate. DeLuca rented a store, built in a sandwich counter, bought some used kitchen equipment and shortly thereafter opened his doors. DeLuca says that he learned as he went, no business plan, just ambition, luck and listening to his customers.

Goals

The shops had business but no profit. At times, they lost money. However, DeLuca and Buck kept pushing forward. The original name, "Pete's Submarines," changed to "Pete's Subway" when they realized that "Pete's Submarine's" sounded like Pizza Marines. Within a year, they opened a second store and shortly after, despite the fact they were losing money, opened a third. They set a goal of opening 32 stores in 10 years.

Franchises

His Subway shops had 16 units by 1974. At this time, Buck and DeLuca decided to focus on franchising as a way to open more shops. A friend that at first refused the offer ended up opening the first Subway franchise restaurant after the company he worked for shut down. From that first franchise, sold to his friend, DeLuca's Subway sandwich shop franchise stores grew at a pace unheard of in the fast food restaurant business. By 1978, just four years later, there were 100 Subway shops. By 1982, there were 200 and in 1987, they passed the 1,000 mark in franchise shop openings.

Growth

That growth has continued. Subway Sandwich Shops has more units than even McDonald's. As of 2008 they operated in 87 countries with 30,000 shops open. They have been rated repeatedly as a No. 1 franchise opportunity and DeLuca says that is due to Subway's pledge to build relationships, set goals and listen to customers.