Firehouse Subs®: The Sandwich Franchise with Growth Potential

Known for its strong brand identity and robust menu, Firehouse Subs has become a fast-casual franchise staple throughout the country. Since its founding more than 25 years ago, the more than 1,180-unit restaurant franchise has built a loyal following of fans and one of the strongest franchising teams in the business. Currently, the well-established brand is one of the fastest growing sandwich franchises and is seeking qualified franchisees to help develop markets in Northern Ohio, Minnesota and the Pacific Northwest while expanding its footprint across Southern California as well.

Though Firehouse Subs has franchised restaurants for much of its history, the company is always innovating to remain current and fresh with its evolving consumer base. Brent Greenwood, Director of Franchise Development for Firehouse Subs, says the brand continues to be driven by its mission – a commitment to and passion for hearty and flavorful food, heartfelt service and public safety – but is also rolling out changes in the way the brand executes against its guest experience while further emphasize its culture to attracting new guests.  

“Consumer spending habits have changed since the onset of the global pandemic and Firehouse Subs has made quick changes across our system in order to continue serving our guests in this new way of life,” said Greenwood. “Anticipating these changes, we made immediate operational and technological adjustments to both protect our customers and staff while improving efficiency. From adding customer car information on our digital ordering platforms to make it easy for restaurant staff to identify guest cars to improvements to our Rapid Rescue To Go ordering platform, Firehouse Subs is constantly evolving to meet the needs of today’s consumer.  At Firehouse Subs, we understand it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to restaurant development and rest assured, we stand by our franchisee partners every step of the way.”

Firehouse Subs offers what Greenwood calls a “high impact” approach to training and support. All franchise partners now complete weeks of virtual restaurant training while we continue to navigate the global pandemic in lieu of traveling to the brand’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla. Franchise business advisors continue to provide support in both streamlining operations and maximizing restaurant profitability, while data driven recording tracks key performance metrics throughout the system to identify opportunities for amplified growth. Firehouse Subs also provides best-in-class real estate, construction, marketing and a full-suite of services as franchisees continue to scale their business.

“Firehouse Subs franchisees truly have a world-class team behind them,” said Greenwood. From the latest in technology and training to mouth-watering new flavor combinations, we provide franchisees with everything they need to keep customers coming back while attracting new ones consistently.”

Meanwhile, Greenwood says that Firehouse Subs is always studying to better understand customer behavior, which helps determine better restaurant layouts that translate into “more efficient real estate choices that allow for even stronger unit economics.”

To help it achieve its next phase of growth, Firehouse Subs is seeking hands-on franchisees that will understand what it takes to run all aspects of a restaurant franchise. Ideal candidates are owner-operators who want to be part of one of the fastest growing sandwich franchises and can follow the Firehouse Subs system while adding their own style of leadership, community involvement and business engagement.

“Firehouse Subs is the real deal,” said Greenwood. “Our founders were firefighters and community service and public safety are engrained in our restaurant DNA. In fact, since our Founders Robin Sorensen and Chris Sorensen established the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation® in 2005 with the mission of providing funding, lifesaving equipment, and educational opportunities to first responders and public safety organizations – our franchisees have granted more than $51 million to hometown heroes. That’s the real passion our franchisees have for Firehouse Subs. And it’s the real opportunity we have for growth”

To learn more about why we are one of the fastest growing sandwich franchises or to inquire why a Firehouse Subs franchises is an amazing investment, visit firehousesubsfranchising.com.