SWOT ANALYSIS ON Quiznos

Quiznos is a fast food restaurant franchise based in Denver, Colorado. The company specializes in offering toasted subs, although they may be served untoasted at the customer's request. It is the second-largest submarine sandwich shop chain in North America, after Subway.

There are over 4,000 shops (number needs substantiation as many stores are closing) located in the United States, 300 in Canada, and 100 more scattered across the world, in Central America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Sint Maarten, South Korea, Venezuela and the Middle East. In the Middle East, Quiznos has outlets in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Quiznos plans to open 15 of its sandwich shops in Kuwait under a master franchise deal.

Quiznos has been the target of several lawsuits. Profitability also seems to be an issue. 1000 Quiznos closed between 2007 and 2009. They are now attempting new strategies to grow the chain back.


Strengths

* Strong brand recognition
* Strong real estate in valuable markets
* High store productivity level
* Strong management skills
* Innovator

Weaknesses

* High fixed cost investment per store (requires very high ROI)
* Poor performance in peripheral markets
* Store concept hard to replicate given size and targeted shoppers/consumers
* Too reliant on manufacturers monies

Opportunities

* Smaller box format to attract time constrained shoppers
* Strengthen operational synergies through regional east-coast presence
* Divestment of Tops and US Foodservice will free up capital to be re-invested in the US
* Moving towards hybrid pricing strategy

Threats

* Growing presence of low-price competitors (i.e. Hannaford, Wal-Mart)
* Traditional and new channel competition
* Must achieve organizational stability