America's Largest Fast Food Restaurant Chain Closed A Ton Of Locations And The Reason Couldn't Be Clearer

There's a concerning trend throughout the United States as a growing number of restaurant chains are either going bankrupt or closing down locations. While some of them are coming up with strategies to survive (like these two popular restaurant chains that are merging into one), others are getting left in the dust. For example, Bar Louie, a beloved bar chain just filed for bankruptcy recently, as well as the rather infamous case of Red Lobster doing the same in 2024. While there are many reasons for this increase in bankruptcy filings and locations closures – including changing consumer behavior, tightening economic conditions, and inflation – it is unfortunate for loyal consumers.

While restaurant chain closures are becoming more normalized, consumers might still be surprised to see fast food chains closing locations — especially when you consider just how much people spend on fast food every year. Case in point, in 2024 alone, sandwich-chain Subway closed more than 600 of their locations nationwide. These closures are largely tied to increased competition and changing consumer preferences, which are not new problems for the company. In fact, the company has been reducing nationwide operations consistently since 2016.

Subway was founded in Connecticut in 1965, and has enjoyed many years of success since its inception. However, after reaching a peak of roughly 27,100 locations nationwide in 2015, according to Restaurant Business, the tables started to turn in light of the notorious legal fiasco of the company's now disgraced former spokesperson, Jared Fogle. While sales numbers had been waning since 2013, the company's decline only got worse in the 5 years immediately after the controversy. This in turn led to an increasing number of location closures, with the company closing 357 locations in 2016, followed by 866 in 2017, 1,108 in 2018, and 996 in 2019. 2020 in particular was a brutal year for Subway, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it closed a whopping 1,601 locations nationwide, followed by another 1,043 locations in 2021 as well.

However, since 2022, past financial struggles appear to be improving for Subway, as the company began to amp up marketing efforts and create additional menu improvements. In total Subway closed about 1,645 locations in this three year time frame, marking the lowest number of closures in a three year period throughout the last decade. Sales numbers have also been increasing for the company. So, despite the fact that Subway closed about 7,600 locations total (marking a 28% decrease in their national operations) between 2015 and 2025, things appear to be turning around for the company.

As of the end of 2024, Subway had around 19,500 locations still open in the U.S., and 37,000 restaurants worldwide. In terms of its real-estate footprint (or the amount of physical locations nationwide), Subway is still the largest fast food chain in the U.S., with almost 6,000 more physical locations than McDonalds. The company also experienced the best average unit volume (AUV) in its entire history during 2024, at $490,000, according to Restaurant Business reporting of Technomic data. These were also the company's best AUV numbers since 2012, marking a shift in consumer sentiment towards the chain.

Subway also generated $9.5 billion in total U.S. sales in 2024, and ranked No. 8 on Technomic's Top 500 Restaurant Chains in 2024. Beyond this, the company is also maintaining success globally, with a company statement telling QSR Magazine that Subway "achieved positive global net restaurant growth for the second consecutive year" in 2024.