Fred DeLuca

Franchisor GOAT by Units

If there was a Mount Rushmore of franchising, Fred Decula would certainly be on it. Born in Brooklyn to Italian-American parents, Deluca knew what he wanted to do at a young age and at 17, he opened “Pete’s Submarines” in a small town in Connecticut. That same sandwich shop evolved into the biggest fast food chain in the world, and changed its name to you guessed it: Subway! What once started as a modest sandwich shop now has over 44,000 locations worldwide. To grow Subway into the enormous company that it is today, Deluca actually implemented a strategy that stressed teamwork and simplicity.

“We give great value for our franchisees: They can build a store for well under $200,000. And we have extremely simple operating systems. The preparation is mostly done in front of the customer. That simplicity is really what attracts our Subway franchise. You see it, and you can do it,” Fred Deluca said in a phone interview from Amsterdam in 2008.

Fred realized early in the process that in order for Subway to expand, he needed to employ a unique growth strategy based on recruiting over 200 Development Agents. They would each own franchises of the company and sell units of Subway to interested franchisees. It was a Win-Win strategy that made Subway the dominant chain that it is today. Fred Deluca passed away in 2015, leaving behind one of the greatest franchises in American history.