A Brief History of Quizno's Subs

Quizno's Sub humbly began at one solitary locationversus similar restaurants based upon the
on the corner of 13th and Grant in Denver,exclusiveness of their ingredients. Rather than
Colorado's busy Capital Hill neighborhood in 1981.using generic ingredients for use on each and
Approximately six years later in 1987 afterevery one of their subs, Quizno's Sub instead
eavesdropping on a remark by a customer,uses menu-specific items solely for some menu
entrepreneur Rick Schaden opened the firstitems that are excluded from others. As a case in
franchise in nearby Boulder, Colorado. After fourpoint, their Chicken Carbonara uses diced bacon
years of enjoying wild popularity with his smallpieces while their Double Bacon BLT uses whole
business investment, Schaden along with hisbacon strips to enhance the specific characteristic
father purchased the entire franchise operation inflavor of the menu selection. Yet Quizno's Sub
1991 (Wikipedia, n.d.). The Schadens weredoes not solely limit its menu to submarine
adamantly resolved to live up to their newlysandwiches. Additional menu items include
adopted corporate mission statement:Craveable Salads, Fresh Soups, Lite Selections,
"To be the leader in quick service restaurants byDrinks, Desserts and Sides, Kidz Options, and
serving the best sandwiches and products in andnewly added Toasted Gourmet Bread Bowls.
around sandwiches in the marketplace... OneWithin 5 years of their corporate purchase, the
successful restaurant and one successful wowedSchadens saw Quizno's Sub grow to 100 locations
customer at a time." (Quizno's, n.d.)in 1996. Though still not yet renowned on a
By the mid 1990's, the Schadens' businessnational basis, through a demonstrated steady
tenacity was beginning to pay off. Businessincrease in brand awareness and name recognition
magazines were praising the uniquely innovativesynonymous with quality, the company quickly
restaurant concept that was Quizno's Sub.expanded to 1,000 franchise locations by the end
Although Quizno's Sub did not invent the toastedof the decade in 2000. The Schadens soon began
sub, they widely popularized the concept throughreceiving national acclaim for their amazingly rapid
their advertising. By offering customers the uniquetriumph in the competitive quick service
crisp flavor of a warm freshly toasted sub, therestaurant industry and for the future growth
taste of the sub is enhanced and the quality ofpotential of the Quizno's Sub franchise. Quizno's
the ingredients are much more pronounced. TheirSub rapidly expanded within 3 years, opening the
slogan "Mmmm... Toasty!" aptly and succinctly2,000th location in 2003. Although still a fraction of
captures the essence of this perceivedthe total number of Subways, as of 2005
experience. Quizno's Sub does not spend anQuizno's Subs has surpassed Blimpie's as the
inordinate amount of time on their signaturesecond largest submarine sandwich chain in North
characteristic. A customer places an order with anAmerica. Nearly all of the locations are owned by
employee and the main ingredients are addedindividual franchisees with only 2 corporate-owned
atop the bread. The open-faced sub followedlocations. Currently, there are over 4,000 Quizno's
along by its top is then placed on and carriedSub locations in the U.S., over 300 locations in
down a conveyor belt inside a toaster for roughlyCanada, and 100 additional locations spread across
30 seconds. The customer then follows his or her13 countries including Australia, Cayman Islands,
sub along to the next station where additionalGuam, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand,
toppings can be added before the sandwich isPanama, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Turkey, and
wrapped and given to the customer. The simplethe U.K. (Wikipedia, n.d.). According to Quizno's
but effective Quizno's Sub concept has proven soSub, the franchise has become so prolific that a
popular that archrival Subway recently added thenew franchise is opened every 9 hours (Quizno's,
option of letting customers choose to order theirn.d.). Quizno's Sub has steadily ascended
subs toasted in 2004. Likewise, Boston MarketEntrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 rankings to
added toasted subs to its menu in 2005 andbecome the third most popular franchise in the
Blimpie most recently followed suit in 2006world, following second place Curves for Women
(Wikipedia, n.d.).and first place Subway. Quizno's Sub is also
In addition, while most competitors in the quickranked first for the 5th year in a row as the top
service restaurant industry attempt torestaurant franchise in Nation's Restaurant News
differentiate solely based upon the threeTop 100.
dimensions of cleanliness, quality and service,Most recently, the company set its sights on
Quizno's Sub can instead attribute its successbattling head-on its arch nemesis, Subway. Their
based upon offering customers quality productslatest salvo aimed directly at Subway was fired
from their menu. Conventional submarine sandwichon September 18, 2006 called "The Prime Rib
restaurants traditionally offer ordinary menusCheesesteak Challenge." Quizno's Sub's assertive
featuring uninspiring BLT's, Cheesesteaks andadvertising campaign boasts that their
Tuna Subs. Quizno's Sub instead offers a widecheesesteak features twice as much meat as
array of mouth-watering signature choices suchSubway's cheesesteak. Customers are eligible for
as the Chicken Carbonara, Spicy Monterey Cluba free sandwich coupon if they purchase a Prime
and Turkey Bacon Guacamole. Quizno's SubRib Cheesesteak and are not completely satisfied
achieves an outstanding improvement in flavorwith their purchase (Wikipedia, n.d.).