A Brief History of Quizno’s Submarines

Quizno’s Sub began humbly in a lonely spot on the corner of 13th and Grant in Denver, Colorado’s bustling Capital Hill neighborhood in 1981. About six years later, in 1987, after hearing a customer comment, businessman Rick Schaden opened the first franchise in nearby Boulder, Colorado. After four years of enjoying great popularity with his investment in a small business, Schaden along with his father bought the entire franchise operation in 1991 (Wikipedia, undated). The Schadens were steadfastly determined to live up to their recently adopted corporate mission statement:

“To be the leader in quick service restaurants by serving the best sandwiches and products in and around sandwiches on the market… One successful restaurant and one successful engaged customer all at once.” (Quizno’s, undated)

By the mid-1990s, the Schadens’ entrepreneurial tenacity was beginning to pay off. Business magazines praised the uniquely innovative restaurant concept that was Quizno’s Sub. Although Quizno’s Sub did not invent the toasted sandwich, it widely popularized the concept through its advertising. By offering customers the unique crispy taste of a freshly toasted sandwich, the flavor of the sandwich is enhanced and the quality of the ingredients is much more pronounced. His catchphrase “Mmmm… Toasty!” adequately and succinctly captures the essence of this perceived experience. Quizno’s Sub doesn’t spend an inordinate amount of time on its distinctive feature. A customer places an order with an employee and the main ingredients are added on top of the bread. The open-faced submarine followed by its top is positioned and lowered down a conveyor belt into a toaster for approximately 30 seconds. The customer then follows their sandwich to the next station where additional ingredients can be added before the sandwich is wrapped and given to the customer. Quizno’s Sub’s simple yet effective concept has proven so popular that its arch-rival Subway recently added the option to let customers choose to order their toasted sandwiches in 2004. Similarly, Boston Market added toasted sandwiches to its menu in 2005 and Blimpie most recently did the same in 2006. (Wikipedia, undated).

Additionally, while most competitors in the quick service restaurant industry attempt to differentiate themselves based solely on the three dimensions of cleanliness, quality, and service, Quizno’s Sub can attribute its success to providing customers with quality items on its menu. Conventional submarine sandwich restaurants traditionally offer ordinary menus that include uninspiring BLT’s, Cheesesteaks and Tuna Subs. Instead, Quizno’s Sub offers a wide variety of delicious signature options, like Chicken Carbonara, Spicy Monterey Club, and Turkey Bacon Guacamole. Quizno’s Sub achieves a marked improvement in taste over similar restaurants based on the uniqueness of its ingredients. Instead of using generic ingredients to use in each and every one of their subs, Quizno’s Sub uses specific menu items solely for some menu items to the exclusion of others. As an example, their Chicken Carbonara uses diced bacon bits, while their Double Bacon BLT uses whole bacon strips to enhance the specific signature flavor of the menu selection. However, Quizno’s Sub doesn’t limit its menu to just sub sandwiches. Additional menu items include Craveable Salads, Fresh Soups, Light Selections, Beverages, Desserts and Sides, Kids’ Choices and newly added Gourmet Toast Bowls.

Within 5 years of their corporate purchase, the Schadens saw Quizno’s Sub grow to 100 locations in 1996. Although not yet recognized nationally, through a demonstrated steady increase in brand awareness and name recognition Along with quality, the company quickly expanded to 1,000 franchises by the end of the 2000s. The Schadens soon began receiving national acclaim for their surprisingly quick success in the competitive quick-service restaurant industry and for the potential to future growth of the Quizno’s Sub franchise. Quizno’s Sub expanded rapidly over 3 years, opening the 2,000th location in 2003. Although still a fraction of the total number of Subways, as of 2005 Quizno’s Subs has overtaken Blimpie’s as the second largest submarine sandwich chain in North America. North. Almost all locations are owned by individual franchisees with only 2 corporate owned locations. Currently, there are more than 4,000 Quizno branches in the US, more than 300 locations in Canada, and an additional 100 locations spread across 13 countries, including Australia, Cayman Islands, Guam, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (Wikipedia, undated). According to Quizno’s Sub, the franchise has become so prolific that a new franchise opens every 9 hours (Quizno’s, nd). Quizno’s Sub has steadily climbed Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 rankings to become the third most popular franchise in the world, following second place Curves for Women and first place Subway. Quizno’s Sub also ranks first for the fifth consecutive year as the top restaurant franchise in the Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100.

More recently, the company has set its sights on fighting its archenemy, Subway, head-on. His last volley aimed directly at Subway went off on September 18, 2006 and was called “The Prime Rib Cheesesteak Challenge.” Quizno’s Sub’s assertive advertising campaign boasts that their cheese steak has twice the meat of Subway’s cheese steak. Customers are eligible for a free sandwich coupon if they purchase a Prime Rib Cheesesteak and are not completely satisfied with their purchase (Wikipedia, no date).