00:00Quiznos permanently closes 4.5 thousand restaurants in largest sandwich chain shutdown in U.S. history.
00:08Once rivaling Subway with nearly 5,000 locations, America's second largest sandwich chain rapidly expanded, then collapsed,
00:15leaving thousands of Quiznos stores shuttered and unnoticed nationwide.
00:20At its 2007 peak of 5,000 locations, Quiznos sold subs, but Subway's $5 foot-long slashed prices,
00:27shifting customers to cheaper sandwiches, wrecking the brand.
00:32Quiznos' franchise model hastened its fall, forcing owners to buy costly supplies,
00:38enriching corporate revenues while franchisees earned less and struggled compared with Subway operators.
00:44By 2008, Subway's $5 deal, the financial crisis, and $875 million debt converged,
00:53triggering lawsuits and mass closures, hundreds yearly, while Quiznos couldn't halt the death spiral.
00:59Quiznos filed bankruptcy in 2014 with $875 million debt, managing decline, not recovery,
01:06as locations fell from 2,100 to under 150 by 2025.
01:13Closures varied by region.
01:15Some lost 90% of stores.
01:18Former strongholds became ghost networks.
01:20Markets shrank to two locations.
01:23Franchisees bankrupt.
01:25Families lost savings.
01:27With thousands of closures, up to 112,500 jobs vanished.
01:31Many first-time or long-time workers received no warning, severance, or final pay when Quiznos stores
01:37shut abruptly.
01:39Though Subway closed 7,600 stores, it lost 28%.
01:43Quiznos lost 97% of stores, collapsing from 5,000 to 148, proving why Subway still dominates.
01:53ABA investigations in 2014 exposed exploitative franchise practices.
01:59By 2025, Quiznos was deemed a cautionary tale.
02:04Its collapse driven by corporate greed, not markets.
02:07Rarely discussed, Quiznos' collapse eroded franchise trust.
02:13After 2014, sandwich franchise applications fell 35%, hurting competitors and poisoning confidence
02:21across the entire category.
02:23In 2011, franchisee Kevin Tackett urged profit reforms.
02:28Management ignored warnings, lawsuits followed, trust collapsed, and closures accelerated from
02:33dozens monthly to hundreds by 2015.
02:37Quiznos' collapse saw repeated ownership changes, debt-heavy buyouts, fragmented control, and
02:44revolving CEOs, leaving no clear strategy as each owner planned exit overgrowth.
02:50From 2020, Quiznos rebranded with new menus and premium pricing.
02:54But stigma lingered.
02:56Landlords avoided it, forcing a downgrade to convenience store kiosks by 2024.
03:02Analysts doubt recovery.
03:04By 2025, Quiznos runs 148 stores, down 97%, with shattered franchise trust, branded a zombie
03:12chain.
03:13Alive, but irrelevant.
03:16Quiznos' collapse questions hidden franchise failures, exposing weak regulation, 4,850 closures,
03:2467,500 lost jobs, and a model prioritizing extraction over survival, proving the system itself
03:31failed.
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