That’s all the corpos and shareholders doing one last big squeeze before recession hits and the stock market crashes.
I went to a BBQ joint here in Texas a week ago. Got 3/4 lb of brisket and some potato salad for the missus and me.
To my surprise… It costed the same thing as 2 menu items at McDonald’s. Like seriously?..
What’s the point of going to subway and McDonald’s if I can just get some BBQ at a restaurant.
(Didn’t name the restaurant since I’m concerned this will make them realize they can charge more)
Yes. And fancy burgers around here cost between $11-16. We’re talking super fancy burgers, mouth watering medium-rare locally grown beef, crazy sauces you’re never heard of, actual fucking grilled onions, etc etc. and beer, they serve beer.
Meanwhile the fast food burger joint is basically the same price, but you get overcooked pink slime.
Marketing only exists to screw you over
Name the restaurant and give them more business. They deserve it.
I quit going to Subway when they changed their whole menu. I went and asked for a spicy italian, blank stare from the employee, “uh, that’s not on the menu”. I said “Okay” and left. The menu wasn’t structured to “make your own” thing not on the menu. Subway was never spectacular food but serviceable, quick, and fairly inexpensive. Not the case anymore, and the weird shit they’ve advertised lately looks awful. FFS, ad are supposed to make things look better than they are, so if these ads look better than the real thing, it must be dreadful irl.
I still get Italian BMT and the spicy… I think the guy you ran into was just new
No, they were (presumably instructed to be) really weird about orders, after they changed the menu. There’s a subway at work, I go 1-2/week, had been the same staff for long over a year when it happened. I asked for some chicken sub with a different cheese than the one on the menu, or something to that effect; was told I needed to get the ‘build your own’ to substitute.
After that silly nonsense, I realized you could do whatever customizations you want when ordering in the app +use coupon codes repeatedly.Yeah no, still never had that happen to me. They always ask what kind of cheese I want, any veggies, however I want it. I go to subway frequently, and many different locations. Try a different one.
Classic Zoot n Zorg moment
When your local chain restaurant/fast food joint starts going off-menu to entice people to come in, you know a business is struggling. Seeing Churros on the menu in a Mexican establishment is perfectly normal. Seeing Churros on the Subway menu is a bit alarming.
I think it’s pretty clear the Subway execs (or the executives of their parent/holding company) foresee a recession and are doing as much profit-taking as possible while there’s still time before the big crash hits and everybody tightens up their budgets.
Seeing Churros on the menu in a Mexican establishment is perfectly normal. Seeing Churros on the Subway menu is a bit alarming.
Some of that is just regional. Seeing churros on the menu at a Houston Subway isn’t particularly alarming.
They have churros on my local subway menu, as well as a pizza, and a footlong pretzel stick.
We’re in New England…
For me it isn’t that churros are on the menu at Subway.
It’s that RIDICULOUSLY FUCKING HUGE churros are on the menuy at Subway.
If you are eating a foot’s worth of churro, you’ve eaten too much churro.
Meh it’s a stick that’s about a foot long and the diameter of a nickel.
Which is basically one big bar of sugar and carbs.
This is a fast food restaurant that serves sandwiches made out of entire loaves of bread.
I’m not saying Subway doesn’t also offer way too much of everything else too, but churros were what we were talking about.
Subway offers too much of everything.
But I will say the veggie patties are pretty tasty. They don’t attempt to replicate meat.
Subway has churros because the parent company owns auntie anne’s
Nah I think it’s far more that they’ve developed a reputation as cheap, everywhere, and mediocre then they raised the prices massively. I don’t know anyone who thinks “you know what I’m craving? Subway”. They used to have other niches but sub shops are common and I can get a better vegetarian option elsewhere and for cheaper.
I don’t think they can pull out of this tailspin unless they slash prices to the bone
I absolutely love subway (not my favorite subs but definitely up there) the prices are just too high. They got greedy and it bit them in the ass
I don’t know anyone that has ever eaten at Subway and said “damn, that was really good”. It’s more of “eh, I’m not hungry anymore”.
Absolutely.
Look all around you and what you see in pretty much all domains is large corporations wringing every drop of brand value they can from accumulated customer brand awareness and loyalty, from enshittification of pretty much everything Internet and of electronics from brands which were previously seen as a good quality-price balance, to forced subscriptions (hi, Adobe) and even as in this case, store chains with well known brands in everything from consumer goods to fast food pushing prices up and/or quantity and quality low.
Sure, for many if not most this will trash those companies’ brands, but as the C-suite at those places have been taught in their MBAs, “by the time it blows up, I’ll be long gone and laughing all the way to the bank to visit all that money I made from bonuses and a golden umbrella”
Yeah they seem to think of “brand value” as loyalty akin to what people feel for a local sports team, and some brands do have that “hometown favorite” value. I know my hometown brand of potato chips definitely does taste like home. But also, they need to be thinking of it in a term that business ghouls can understand: professional reputation.
The organization of subway has a bad professional reputation. Its customers are unimpressed by its services in their transactions with it, they feel it offers a bad value proposition.
Businesses have gotten accustomed to the brand treadmill rather than just doing something well and being ok with the margins that provides. And if it isn’t an investment in growth a business should be able to reach that point where it finds stability and maintains it, providing stable profits.
Subway spent a long time and a lot of marketing money training their customers that a sandwich should cost $5 and taste fine. Not great, but fine. But then the doubled the cost and halved the quality. They spent years teaching customers to avoid the sandwich they now serve.
Little Caesars had a similar problem, but instead of doubling the price, they raised it $1. Cheap pizza for $5 is fine, and cheap pizza for $6 still feels fine.
My local Little Caesars sells the basic pizzas for $9.97 now. Crazy Bread went from $1.99 to $4.99.
Apparently it was creating massive problems for their franchisees in becoming profitable. Ever go into a subway and have the owner practically force you to buy a cookie? They’re trying to make up for the cheap ass sandwich.
There is zero reason to go to Subway sandwiches over Jersey Mike’s now that the prices are the same. Subway made sense when it was cheap. A decent sandwich, at a decent price, in a decent amount of time. Now it’s an overpriced bad sandwich. Bye!
Yeah when I go in for work there’s a Subway just in a plaza near where I work like 2 minutes away. I’d rather go to the Jersey Mike’s 15min away for maybe a buck or two more. Used to like JK’s but I think Jersey’s a better value. Also I really lime that pepper relish lol.
But yeah bring back the $5 and I’d probably partake every so often. Cuz then the price would better reflect the quality and expectations.
Jersey Mike’s no longer does meatball subs :(
Okay, the meatball marinara sub at Subway, with provolone, olives, and pepperchinis, is pretty good. It’s not great, but it satisfies a craving. You’ve got me there.
It’s not a great meatball, but so few sandwich shops even have them these days. Jersey Mike’s used to have a great one. Quiznos had a decent one too.
Firehouse has one, but it’s not amazing either.
Whatever happened to Quiznos?
Quiznos operated on super-low margins, and had a really tough combination of events in the late noughties that killed it.
First off, their big advantage over Subway was toasted sandwiches, and then Subway added toasters, started the “$5 Footlong” campaign to under cut on price, Quiznos corporate got taken over in a leveraged buyout that transferred massive debt to the company, and then they tried getting customers back by sending out millions of “Free Sandwich” coupons they expected the franchisees to honor at their own expense, which they overwhelmingly refused to do, resulting in a massive consumer backlash and boycott. And then the 2008/2009 financial meltdown hit.
That was all in like 18 months. It was brutal. Over 90% of locations closed in just a few years, and a quick Google search shows only 153 left in the country as of June out of nearly 5000.
There’s a gas station on I-35 north of Austin I know of that has one still, but the menu looks like it’s pretty different.
It’s a shame because they were decent sandwiches. I knew a guy who opened a bunch of them in Houston in the late 90s jslust before they really picked up steam nationally. He was doing pretty well for the first couple years. He died before the collapse, but I think he’d gotten out of Quiznos by then and was doing Buffalo Wild Wings locations.
Damn, that sucks. They did have a pretty decent menu. Their sock monkey “any coupon works” commercial in the 00’s was hilarious.
Isn’t jersey Mike’s a right wing douche restaurant?
No idea.
You might be thinking of Jimmy John’s.
Jersey Mike’s sucks though. Like, abysmal. I’ve been to their stores against my preferences often enough that it isn’t even a single store problem, the food is just unpleasant.
Which is a matter of opinion, obviously, but all food opinions are subjective to begin with.
I like it, the ones by me are awesome. Subway sandwiches on the other hand are terrible.
The best local sandwich shop in my town sells really good ones for $8-11. If Subway were still $5 they might be competitive. At $14 it sounds like the company no longer understands its product.
The best sandwich shop in my town is the deli at the grocery store. They are less concerned about skimping on ingredients because it’s more important to entice you in and get you spending money in the aisles.
For $8 or $9 they will stuff a footlong sub so full they can barely fold it over. And it’s generally fresher ingredients than you’d find in a Subway
Publix?
Harris Teeter where I live. We do have Publix locations around now though. I still need to check them out and see if they live up to the hype.
HARRIS TEETER GANG HARRIS TEETER GANG Better than Publix, Harris Teeter gang for life. When Sheron is on shift you know you’re in for a delicious fully loaded sub
There’s a Jewish deli near me that gives me a full meal for ~15USD and the sandwich they give you is PACKED with meat and incredible bread. It’s glorious. There’s no chance I’d go to Subway over that.
Local options are always better. The Mexican joint sells you a massive breakfast burrito for $6. Nepalese takeout will feed you for days for $16. Hot dog truck will fill you up with delicious processed meat for $4.
Subway? Subpar lunch made out of cardboard and ground up yoga mats for almost $20.
I quit them about 10 years ago when I asked for spinach on my sandwich and they gave me 3 small leaves of spinach for an upcharge. That and their instantly stale tasting bread made me done with the particular store and all Subway stores. Was a shame, because they were convenient to where I worked.
For those who haven’t seen it, John Oliver has a good bit on subway. https://youtu.be/jDdYFhzVCDM?si=AMkHeXR5yIpZCu3l
You’re supposed to use the coupons they mail to you every month. I never pay more than $6 for a footlong.
You’re supposed to stop eating there. I never pay for a foot long.
That’s a hassle. I hate coupons and mail-in rebates, prefer to avoid such businesses.
Don’t worry, there’s an app!!
I do get subway coupons in the mail every month.
None of the subways in my area accept coupons.
THEY WHAT?
I don’t even eat at Subway, but nearly tripling the price in one go? My gawd.
I go to Subway with an upsetting degree of regularity, but it’s the only place where I can get fresh vegetables as part of my meal in under 30 minutes. The cheapest footlong on the menu is the Spicy Italian (or whatrver their latest menu refresh is calling it) for $10.99. Any other sub is $11.99 and up.
You can get more reasonable prices per sandwich with coupon codes. For the ones near me, they almost always have a “FLBOGO” or “BOGOFTL” or “FTL1299” or similar variation to get two for the price of one. But YMMV and you have to be ok with leftovers if you’re eating alone.
You also have to order from the app to use these.
Lmao I unknowingly liked their cheapest sandwich best
Five years ago I could get a foot long spicy italian combo with chips and a drink for less than $10.
No, it’s been incremental for a while now.
It hasn’t actually been $5 in a long time. It was like $7 last time I went (a few years ago).
about 10 years ago subway replaced the ice cream shop at the local amusement park. the prices they had there were insane, and they didnt even have all the regular menu options. 20 something dollars for HALF a footlong. what a joke
If I want to spend that much on a sandwich I’ll go to Jersey Mike’s.
I’d rather got to Penn Station, but Jersey Mike’s is still pretty good.
Lee’s or a Primos for me.
But Jersey mikes is not bad if it’s all there is.
Love me my Ike’s
Jersey Mike’s was recently purchased by the same company that owns Subway. Give it time and they’ll be the same shit quality.
And then they’ll raise the prices even higher.
That’s unfortunate.
It was Subway that was recently purchased by the investment firm that owns Jimmy Johns. Jersey Mike’s didn’t sell.
Oh Jimmy John’s already sucks, I’m fine then.
And get a much better sandwich too.
That’s kind of implied
deleted by creator
Way back when they introduced the world’s most earwormy jingle, I knew it would backfire on them. You can’t always sell a product for one price, eventually the price has to go up.
Idk. Maybe paying people 14 bucks a hour just to make sandwiches cause they complain that they can’t make money. Because they have no skills. Because they would rather make sandwiches and complain than get a job that pays better.
Exclusive transcriptions from the meeting room:
CEO: Why are those peasant stop buying? It can’t be the price. It’s just $9 raised, it’s not even a whole $10, which is by the way, should be a coin by now.
That’s like, what, a banana maybe?
LOL where did I heard this one before? I think it was in a TV show?
Does the rest of the show as good?
Yes and no. There’s some dated topical humor, and some of the seasons are not as good.
Overall a pretty good show though.If you found this funny, you’ll absolutely love the entire show.
Just watched the pilot, I don’t think this is a fun comedy show, didn’t find one joke the entire episode. And tbh I just feel bad for Michael, the rest of the family is insufferable. If there’s one thing I hate more than ungratefully spoiled entitled rich kids, it’s seeing them taken advantage of good people, and they’re both of these.
