Subway (restaurant)

Subway IP LLC
Subway
Formerly
  • Pete's Super Submarine Sandwiches (1965–1968)
  • Pete's Subs (1968–1970)
  • Pete's Subway (1970–1972)
Company typePrivate
IndustryRestaurants
GenreFast-food restaurant
FoundedAugust 28, 1965 (1965-08-28) in Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Founders
  • Fred DeLuca
  • Peter Buck
  • Carmela DeLuca[1]
Headquarters
Shelton, Connecticut
,
U.S.[2]
Number of locations
37,000 (September 2023)[3]
Area served
Worldwide (100+ countries)
Key people
Jonathan Fitzpatrick (president & CEO)[4]
Products
Revenue US$16.1 billion (2019)[5]
OwnerRoark Capital Group
Number of employees
410,000, including franchises (2022)[6]
Websitesubway.com

Subway IP LLC,[7] trading as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs) and wraps. It was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarine Sandwiches[8] in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes, it was renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut.[9]

It was the fastest-growing franchise in the world in 2015[10] and, as of September 2023, has over 37,000 locations in more than 102 countries and territories. More than half its locations (21,796 or 61.1%) are in the United States.[3][11][12] It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world.[13][14][15][16] Its international headquarters are in Shelton, Connecticut.

  1. ^ "Obituary: Carmela DeLuca, 89, Co-Founder of Subway, Mother of Fred DeLuca". Orange Live. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Contact Customer Service". SUBWAY. Retrieved August 7, 2023. Franchise World Headquarters 1 Corporate Drive Suite 1000 Shelton, CT 06484 USA
  3. ^ a b "Explore Our World". Subway. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Durbin, Dee-Ann (July 21, 2025). "Subway hires former Burger King executive as its new CEO". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 26, 2025.
  5. ^ "6. Subway". Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  6. ^ "Subway". Forbes. January 25, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Subway IP LLC". OpenCorporates. December 14, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "'It's just not what people want anymore': Subway to close hundreds of U.S. stores". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  9. ^ McCreary, Matthew (May 9, 2018). "How a 17-Year-Old With $1,000 Started Subway and Became a Billionaire". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Herold, Tracy Stapp (February 6, 2015). "Top Fastest-Growing Franchises for 2015". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  11. ^ Tice, Carol. "Subway - pg.2". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  12. ^ "Number of U.S. Subway restaurants 2016". Statista. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  13. ^ "The History of SUBWAY". Subway. 2019. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020. Today, the SUBWAY brand is the world's largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 20,603 locations around the world.
  14. ^ "World's Largest Fast Food Chains". Food & Wine. May 8, 2017. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  15. ^ Joe Bramhall. "McDonald's Corporation". Hoovers.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
  16. ^ "Yum! Financial Data - Restaurant Counts". yum.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2013.