Subway shuts down hundreds more locations across America

You might not notice it right away, but there is a decent chance that the Subway you used to pass every day is gone. The chain just shut down another 700+ U.S. locations, marking its 10th straight year of decline.

Subway closed a net of 729 stores in 2025, bringing its U.S. total down to 18,773 locations. That might still sound like a lot, and it is.

Subway is still the largest fast-food chain in the U.S. by store count. Back in 2015, it had over 27,000 locations. Since then, it has closed more than 8,300 stores.

And the closures have been steady across a decade. In 2018, over 1,100 Subway stores were closed. In 2020, over 1,600 were closed, while another 729 were shut down in 2025.

The shutdowns are more like a slow, deliberate cleanup. Subway has been “rightsizing,” basically shutting down underperforming locations and focusing on better store locations, improved operations, and stronger franchise performance.

The shrink isn’t global

Subway isn’t shrinking everywhere. Globally, it’s actually doing the opposite.

The chain opened 1,000+ new locations worldwide in 2025 and is planning thousands more through international franchise deals. So while its presence in the U.S. is tightening up, it is expanding in the rest of the world.

The comeback plan

Subway isn’t just closing stores and hoping for the best. It is trying to rebuild demand with a new value menu (15 items under $5), updated store designs, better delivery integration, as well as partnerships and menu refreshes.

The goal is pretty clear: make Subway feel relevant again. And these days, even the biggest chains aren’t so much about being everywhere anymore as they are trying to be worth choosing.

Source: QSR