Subway is one of the most popular fast-food chains known for providing its customers with a form of healthy fast food. Over recent years the brand has experienced some image issues because its number one spokesperson Jared Fogel was arrested and is currently still in prison today. Jared Fogel was arrested and convicted because of his involvement in child exploitation and this includes partaking in viewing imagery of lewd images of children. It is unfair that the restaurant should blame this because this is an act of a single individual and unfortunately, he just happened to be the brand ambassador for Subway. The restaurant chain was able to weather the storm and remain successful through this scandal.
Subway has experienced significant closures in the years 2017 and 2018. In 2017 900 restaurants closed and in 2018, another 500 restaurants closed. The reason why these restaurants have closed is not related to the scandal of the brand ambassador, but instead, individuals are blaming the new chief executive officer Suzanne Greco. The thought is that since the co-founder of the business died in 2015 and Suzanne Greco was put in charge, she cannot match the success of the co-founder Fred DeLuca. Even though Suzanne Greco has worked at Subway as a teenager before becoming the chief executive officer, she has been unable to help the franchisees be successful. Business Insider released a study that stated that one-third of the United States’ subway franchises have not been profitable. The franchisees have complained about how Suzanne Greco does not offer them the support needed to be successful as a Subway franchise and has not put any plan to promote growth in the company.
Business Insider interviewed a franchisee and what they stated was that they felt Suzanne Greco is not qualified to be the chief executive officer of Subway. All this pressure from the franchisees and to keep Subway profitable has caused Suzanne Greco to step down and retire as the chief executive officer of the restaurant. Trevor Haynes, the chief business development officer for Subway, will become the interim chief executive officer once Suzanne Greco retires. Suzanne Greco is also the sister of Fred DeLuca. This is big because once Suzanne Greco steps down and this will be the first time in Subway history, someone outside of the family will be in charge of Subway. Even though Suzanne Greco is stepping down, it is still her family’s business. She loves the company, so she has collaborated with the subway team and put new strategic measures in place so that Trevor Haynes can be successful and help the franchisees and Subway grow. Her entire goal before she retires is to make sure that Subway and its franchisees have a bright future ahead of them.
The franchisees of Subway feel that Suzanne Greco’s stepping down should have happened a long time ago. The franchisees have struggled in their businesses so long that they are optimistic that things will change, but they are cautious with their optimism. They also feel her brother picked Suzanne Greco as a chief executive officer because he was on his death bed. He wanted to keep the leadership of the company in the family. Everyone, including Suzanne Greco, hopes that the new chief executive officer can breathe new life back into the company.
