Bye Bye Jared
Fireside subs: Can you stomach Subway's new fancypants image as it tries tooutdo Starbucks?
As McDonald's ups the ante on presentation in certain locations à la Starbucks, the Subway sandwich chain is following suit. Introducing Subway Cafe, which will feature brick or wood-paneled walls, plush armchairs, Wi-Fi, and in some cases, a fireplace.
Guests can cozy up to the hearth with a hot or cold espresso, chai latte, hot chocolate or frozen beverage, all care of Seattle's Best. And then, there's the gelato.
Subway, which operates more than 33,000 units worldwide, is no stranger to experimentation. The chain currently runs franchises on a crane at the World Trade Center construction site in New York City, in a Jeep assembly plant in Ohio, a church in upstate New York and in a floating restaurant aboard a river boat in Germany. The Subway Cafe will be a little larger than the standard 1,200-square-foot Subway.
The company is mum on any improvement in the quality of their actual sandwiches. More importantly, who will replace Jared Fogle as Subway assumes its new, chic agenda? May we suggest John O'Hurley of the ever-so-classy J. Peterman Seinfeld parody?