Subway vs Quiznos | Anywhere and Everywhere | 2

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s 1987 in Denver, Colorado, and a 22-year-old stockbroker named Rick Schaden invests a market windfall into a Quiznos franchise. Four years later, he and his wealthy father buy all 18 stores. Their outlandish dream: take on Subway. Meanwhile, a college kid manages to lose 245 pounds eating 2 Subway sandwiches a day. With “Jared the Subway Guy” as their new spokesperson, and the introduction of freshly baked bread, Subway’s profits and store count soar. But by 2000, the Schadens’ savvy business strategy and aggressive franchise marketing catapults Quiznos into third place behind Subway and Blimpie. But manic growth hides troubling signs of dysfunction.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A note to listeners, the material in this episode covers weight loss and
0:04.5	dieting, which some people could find upsetting.
0:07.0	It's a sleepy Sunday afternoon in 1982 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
0:19.8	Subway CEO Fred Deluca and one of his regional franchise agents walk into a
0:25.2	nearly empty subway. It's located in a strip mall on the outskirts of town.
0:30.8	Deluca's in his usual colorful weekend wear, a rainbow stripe button down shirt
0:35.6	and khakis. The company now has 300 locations in 20 states. Deluca's touring the
0:42.4	south to get a sense of how franchisees are doing. He gives the teenager at the
0:47.3	counter a big smile. Hey, is your manager available? I'm from headquarters back in
0:52.8	Connecticut just checking in. The kid quickly slides a sports illustrated swimsuit
0:57.9	edition out of sight behind the cash register. Actually, my manager's not here.
1:02.9	He's out picking up the bread at the bus stop. Deluca and the agent exchange a look.
1:07.8	Deluca points to the hidden mag. That's a good issue, son. Just keep it out of
1:13.5	sight of customers, okay? Anyway, what's the deal with this bread run? Rolls
1:17.8	usually get delivered to us doors. And the manager picks them up at the bus terminal
1:22.4	in town. He should be back in like 20 minutes. Deluca lifts up his hands in
1:27.0	exasperation. He's from a big Italian family and they all talk with their hands.
1:31.5	Are you pulling my leg? He has to drive 20 minutes to pick up bread. The
1:37.6	regional manager grabs a bag of potato chips from a display rack and tosses it
1:41.4	on the counter. Ring that up for me, William. I'll take a coke too. Bread I can
1:46.4	fill you in on what's going on here while we drive to our next stop. Back in the
1:51.9	car, the manager takes a squig of his drink and pulls out of the parking lot.
	...

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