Subway, ranked again for the 19th time as the #1 global franchise opportunity in Entrepreneur Magazine this year, is a leading fast food franchise with no hint of stopping. With over 33000 restaurants in 90 countries, what else can this 45-year-old restaurant accomplish? Opening a new location this past Wednesday on top of what will be the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan, can lead to a historical triumph for this already well-known franchise for odd locations.
A skyscraper, set to be completed in 2013 with 105 stories, is presently being built on top of ground zero, former location of the World Trade Centers. Ironworkers labor away currently on the 27th floor with hungry stomachs and a urge for more than their average lunch bucket or local street vendors hundreds of feet below their work environment. DCM Erectors, the same company that is building the skyscraper, decided that the workers needed more options of nourishment for their normal 30-minute lunch break. Nine companies that showed interest in this opportunity were interviewed, with only Subway making the cut on the standards and limitations of such a feat.
The restaurant can be considered non-profit in this situation based on the $3 million invested in pods to elevate the restaurant as the skyscraper expands into the sky. As for now, the new expansion to the skyscraper has not been as popular as expected, but DCM has high hopes that it will grow in popularity. The site can have over 1000 workers at a time and as Rod Carril, an ironworker, mentions in the New York Times, “It’ll be real nice in the winter.” The restaurant itself offers bathrooms and air-conditioned seating in a lounge below the service area.
The Subway chain operates more restaurants in the United States, Canada, and Australia than Mcdonald’s does and has no problem boasting this accomplishment. With other odd locations such as an aluminum smelting plant in New Zealand and a church in Buffalo, it appears that Subway refuses to stop expanding until it reaches the sky, and even then is questionable. Without a doubt, any restaurant that towers above Manhattan will be recognizable.
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CouponDad