QSR Magazine: Report: Subway Closed Over 900 Restaurants in 2017

The new year looks to be a challenging one for Subway. According to a recent QSR Magazine article, Business Insider reported that the quick-service chain closed 909 locations during 2017 in the U.S., which is nearly three times the number of stores that closed the previous year. 2016 was also the first year the chain closed more stores than it opened.

“The erosion of baseline traffic and related profitability decline is the overwhelming primary issue for our brand,” Subway said in a memo to The New York Post. Subway’s sales and traffic also appear to be on the decline. In the last five years, traffic has decreased by 25 percent and sales fell from $11.5 billion to $11.3 billion in 2016.

"Our goal is to strengthen the Subway brand in every market around the world to give Subway franchisees the greatest opportunity to successfully grow their businesses," a representative told Business Insider. The world’s largest quick-service chain at 25,835 locations is in the middle of reshaping the brand with Subway’s Fresh Forward Design and CEO Suzanne Greco helping to build out the new concept.