Quizno’s Sub began humbly in a lonely location at the corner of 13th and Grant in Denver’s busy Capital Hill neighborhood in Colorado in 1981. About six years later, in 1987, after hearing a comment from a customer, businessman Rick Schaden opened the first franchise in the vicinity. Boulder, Colo. After four years of huge 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 items in and around sandwiches on the market… One successful restaurant and one successful engaged customer at the same time.” (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 sub, it widely popularized the concept through its advertising. By offering customers the unique, crunchy flavor 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 his distinguishing feature. A customer places an order with an employee, and the main ingredients are added on top of the bread. The open-faced sub followed by its top is placed 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 toppings 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 archrival Subway recently added the option to let customers choose to order their toasties in 2004. Likewise, Boston Market added toasties to its menu in 2005 and Blimpie more recently. he 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 offering customers quality menu items. Conventional submarine sandwich restaurants traditionally offer ordinary menus including uninspiring BLT’s, Cheesesteaks and Tuna Subs. Instead, Quizno’s Sub offers a wide variety of delicious signature options, such as Chicken Carbonara, Spicy Monterey Club, and Turkey Bacon Guacamole. Quizno’s Sub achieves a marked improvement in flavor over similar restaurants based on the exclusivity 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 that are excluded from others. As an example, their Chicken Carbonara uses diced bits of bacon, while their Double Bacon BLT uses whole bacon strips to bring out the specific signature flavor of the menu selection. However, Quizno’s Sub doesn’t limit its menu solely to sub sandwiches. Additional menu items include Craveable salads, fresh soups, light selections, beverages, desserts and sides, kids’ options, and newly added gourmet toasted bread bowls.
Within 5 years of their corporate purchase, the Schadens saw Quizno’s Sub grow to 100 locations by 1996. Although not yet nationally recognized, through a demonstrated steady increase in brand awareness and name recognition along with With quality, the company quickly expanded to 1,000 franchises by the late 2000s. The Schadens soon began drawing national acclaim for their surprisingly quick win in the competitive quick-service restaurant industry and growth potential. future of the Quizno’s Sub franchise. Quizno’s Sub expanded rapidly in 3 years, opening its 2,000th location in 2003. Although still a fraction of the total number of Subways, as of 2005 Quizno’s Subs has surpassed Blimpie’s as the second largest submarine sandwich chain in South 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, n.d.). Quizno’s Sub has steadily climbed Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 rankings to become the third most popular franchise in the world, trailing second-place Curves for Women and first-place Subway. Quizno’s Sub is also ranked No. 1 for the fifth year in a row as the Best Restaurant Franchise in Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100.
More recently, the company has set its sights on going head-on against its arch-enemy, Subway. His latest volley aimed directly at Subway was shot on September 18, 2006, and was called “The Prime Rib Cheesesteak Challenge.” Quizno’s Sub’s assertive ad campaign boasts that its cheesesteak has twice the meat of Subway’s cheesesteak. Customers are eligible for a free sandwich coupon if they purchase a Prime Rib Cheesesteak and are not completely satisfied with their purchase (Wikipedia, undated).
