Subway franchisee adverts recently, are they still profitable ?!

[mokhi6]

Okay so there has been alot of Subway advertisements on my facebook regarding opportunity to own their franchise. Arent they were dead long ago, i dont remember seeing them around. honestly with so many good eateries who would prefer to eat in subway..

Hong Kong juggernaut black sheeps, local eateries and pret is enough i believe.

Whats your take on it, is it still profitable?!

[Coolboy]

I like Subway, not that it is very healthy, but I did see it as a slightly more healthier alternative than the usual junk food at McDonalds. Six inch or foot long, I enjoy its taste and variety in choices you can pick for its toppings. Its true the company globally has been experiencing issues and declines after years of non-stop growth, but personally I don't mind its food as much as other fast food chains.

[GentleGeorge]

I saw one branch at the ferry terminals

I guess it appeals to the Discovery Bay crowd on the way back from work?

[Coolboy]

I saw one branch at the ferry terminals

I guess it appeals to the Discovery Bay crowd on the way back from work?

There are close to 20 Subway outlets around the city actually:

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=lf...E,lf:1,lf_ui:4

[Cornmeal]

There was one at MK East but it closed down maybe late 2018?

It's cheap somewhat 'comfort/drunk food' that I'd prefer over McDick's, not that I'd eat either more than 1x a year if that.

[RMDNC]

When one of the big HK conglomerates decides not to buy franchise rights or set up a JV for all of HK as is done for McDonalds and Starbucks, then that should tell you that they did their due diligence and passed on Subway as something viable (long run economically feasible). Exception would be Subway prefers individual operators but this is not the norm for franchisors.

Do you know the payback period, historical store comps, etc. for a typical Subway in HK?

Also, Pret having to scale back globally due to COVID but also seems a tired brand. In HK, my perception is outside of Central, concept doesn't work. Also, changing demographics of HK workforce (expats from Mainland supplanting Westerners) is writing on the wall for selling sandwiches IMO. Locals will eat a pizza but sandwich perceived as rubbish peasant low class food. Same for Mexican food IMO.

[shri]

Okay so there has been alot of Subway advertisements on my facebook regarding opportunity to own their franchise. Arent they were dead long ago, i dont remember seeing them around. honestly with so many good eateries who would prefer to eat in subway..

Hong Kong juggernaut black sheeps, local eateries and pret is enough i believe.

Whats your take on it, is it still profitable?!

For a while several years ago, it was the in-thing with a couple of Indians I knew. A couple of them had multi-location franchises.

However, as a product their appeal is limited. As a company, I'm not too sure - look at their latest investor briefings and annual reports / stock updates and see if this is a company that you're going to invest your hard earned cash and time in.

The last subway I had was about 20+ years ago in the US - used to like their meatball subs at lunch.

[bdw]

But Subway CEO John Chidsey previously told Forbes he was optimistic about the company’s future. He said the company’s performance in China indicated business had bounced back.

“This shows that, with time, you can recover,” he said. “It will be different all over the world, but Asia gives me hope. I feel good about Subway.”

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/r...19-9?r=US&IR=T

[freeier]

My friend opened several Subway franchises in Singapore.. the best one brings in more than 1m SGD annually as revenue (obviously also have higher cost like rental, staff)... but i think if the location is right it is doable.. his best shop is not in CBD targeting the expats, but some neighbourhood mall for the locals...

[shri]

@bdw - thanks for that. Given some of the press they've had, I had assumed they were a public listed entity. They're privately owned - which is even more problematic for me as they don't have to release reasonably transparent quarterly results.

Will dig into this...