Subway to Grow in Europe

Subway (Millford, Conn.) has revealed plans to add as many as 1000 new European locations in 2014.

The sandwich shop operator already has 4018 stores in Europe, having opened about 500 stores a year in Europe for the past two years.

“Europe is the strongest, fastest-growing international market for Subway outside of North America, and will continue to be,” assistant regional director Mike Charest told Bloomberg News.

Amsterdam-based Charest said the U.K. is at the “top of the list” for growth, with a goal to have 2000 outlets by 2015. (It currently numbers 1514.)

Growth may also quicken in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, Charest said, where at least 20 stores have been opened in each country in 12 months. And it will stay on pace in France and Russia, where brand awareness is high, adding 100 stores in France in 2014 and up to 200 in Russia.

The company also aims to be in Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine by the end of this year.

On the other hand, Charest said growth in certain countries, like Italy, has been more challenging. Italy has “plenty of home-grown independents and chains to feed the market,” he said.