FAST FOOD

Subway expands network

Subway Restaurants, the US fast-food chain, plans to expand its Thailand network to 100 outlets by the end of 2011.

The seventh Subway outlet owned by Aroi Bread is scheduled to open at The Offices@Central World in June

"We will move to the next level. And this time it won't feel like we're climbing a wall with our bare fingers, unlike when we started," said Greg Lange, the majority shareholder in Aroi Bread Company Ltd, Subway's biggest franchisee in Thailand.

Subway now has 22 restaurants across the country, five of which are owned by Aroi Bread. Another five outlets will be opened in the next three to four months.

Aroi Bread will open its sixth outlet at Phuket Airport on May 15, and its seventh at The Offices@CentralWorld in June.

Mr Lange said Subway's Thailand outlets enjoyed a 12% rise in same-store sales in the first quarter.

"When the economy is in recession people still want to go out and spend, but they will look for good-value products. That's why some quick-service chains that sell quality foods at affordable prices can grow," he said.

Subway was initially very slow to take off in Thailand when compared to McDonald's or KFC, because its 14 local franchises focused mainly on expats and upper middle-class Thais, he said.

"But it's time for us to start attracting the mass market now that we have a strong brand image in Thailand. We will have more ads in print media, on the radio and TV, as well as on the side of BTS carriages," he said.

A number of special promotions such as a 69-baht Subway sandwich will be introduced. A word of mouth strategy will be used to build brand awareness and to encourage locals to try the food.

Subway first opened in Thailand during the 1997 economic crisis but it failed to attract Thai customers because of the poor economy. The franchisee had insufficient capital to survive the downturn.

But the brand relaunched in Thailand in 2002 with more success.

Mr Lange said Subway franchises yielded good short-term returns. A franchisee invests around 5 million baht to open a Subway outlet. It takes about two-and-a-half years to break even.

Subway sends a team to help with a market feasibility study and traffic flow forecast to ensure the outlet is viable.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-05-07

is this the same Greg Lange who owns sunbelt asia and sunrise taco's?

is this the same Greg Lange who owns sunbelt asia and sunrise taco's?

Yes.

Well I hope if Greg is reading this thread, he thinks about us folks here in Udon Thani.

Greg...Carrefour recently opened a store here in Udon. There is still retail space open on the ground floor.

I'd think if they wanted to sell to normal Thais they'd have to Thai-ify their menu a bit. Most Thais just don't eat sandwiches. Even at McDonalds, fried chicken seems to be the best seller, and you don't even have quarter pounders on the menu. And KFC is the most popular chain because fried chicken is already Thai food, and they offer rice dishes as well.