Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches (subs) and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. (DAI). Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 37,000 restaurants in 100 countries and territories as of June 27, 2012.It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain globally and is the second largest restaurant operator globally after Yum! Brands (over 37,000 locations).Subway's main operations office is in Milford, Connecticut; five regional centers support Subway's growing international operations. The regional offices for European franchises are located in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Australia and New Zealand locations are supported from Brisbane,Australia; the Asian locations are supported from offices located in Beirut, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore and India and the Latin America support center is in Miami, Florida.Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from family friend Peter Buck, to start his first sandwich shop on August 28, 1965.The first Subway outside of North America opened in Bahrain, in December 1984.Since 2007, Subway has consistently ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's Top 500 Franchises list. It ranked #2 in 2012. It also ranked #2 on the "Fastest Growing Franchise" and "Global Franchise" lists.In March 2011, Subway was named "the most loved fast food chain in the US" by Amplicate.com, based on their analysis of opinions expressed on social media websites.At the end of 2010, Subway was the largest fast food chain on Earth, with 33,749 restaurants worldwide, 1,012 more than McDonald's. In terms of revenue, McDonald's still led Subway.Doctor's Associates, owner of Subway, was founded by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck in 1965. That year, they opened the first Subway restaurant, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.The name comes from the fact that Buck holds a PhD. Doctor's Associates is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, any medical organization.
Revenue $ 16.2 billion (2010)