Why Is Subway Called Subway In 2024? The Full Story Behind the Famous Name

With over 40,000 locations globally, Subway is the largest restaurant chain in the world. Subway built its empire by serving up fresh, customizable submarine sandwiches at affordable prices. But why is this hugely successful franchise named Subway?

As a sandwich expert and industry advisor, I‘ve done extensive research into the iconic brand. From its humble start in 1965 to present day dominance, there‘s an interesting story behind why Subway is called Subway.

The Difficulty of the Original Name

Subway originally opened its doors in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1965 under the name “Pete’s Super Submarines.” Founder Fred DeLuca named the shop after partner Dr. Peter Buck, who lent him $1,000 to start the restaurant.

While the name paid homage to Dr. Buck‘s contribution and the submarine sandwiches the store offered, it had some drawbacks:

• Length: At 4 words and 19 letters, the full name was extremely lengthy, especially for signs and advertisements in the early days.
• Confusion: Many customers called the shop “Pizza Marines” after hearing radio ads, mixing up the lengthy name.
• Connection: The name didn’t evoke any feeling of freshness or speed – two brand attributes DeLuca wanted associated.

This difficult original name was the first step towards eventually calling it Subway.

The Subway Name Aligns with Brand Identity

As the shop grew into a franchised chain, DeLuca sharpened his focus on Subway‘s core identity – fresh, fast, and affordable subs. The eventual Subway name neatly aligns with this brand identity in a few key ways:

Speed and Efficiency

The name Subway elicits imagery of rapid transportation below cities and underground metro systems swiftly carrying passengers. This is an apt analogy for Subway’s efficient sandwich making process – custom subs made in minutes right before your eyes.

The Subway name matched the chain‘s goal to stand out as the fast food restaurant where fresh sandwiches were made extremely efficiently.

Catchy and Memorable

Part of Subway‘s franchising and marketing success can be attributed to having an incredibly catchy and memorable name.

The short one-word name is easy for customers to recall. Combine this with a fairly uncommon word for a restaurant brand, and you have a name that stands out in customers‘ minds.

In [surveys], Subway scored highly on key brand metrics like awareness, recollection and popularity. The simple Subway name is likely a driving factor behind such positive metrics.

Global Reach Made Possible by Name

Another reason why Subway stuck with its catchy one-word name is that it enabled easy international expansion in the 1980s and 1990s.

As seen above, Subway saw rapid international growth during this period. By 1998, 18% of all Subway stores were located abroad. The name Subway, either unchanged or slightly modified, translated well across geographies.

This facilitated strong consistent branding even though cultures, languages, and consumer behavior varied internationally. Simple and recognizable – thathas been the power behind the Subway name.

Subway Has Stuck With A Winner

With over 50 years of growth under its belt, Subway has built tremendous equity into its brand name. It tops charts in brand awareness surveys globally and has carved out an identity people won‘t soon forget.

Much of this stems from Subway‘s name itself – catchy, simple, and able to evoke images of efficient and speedy sandwich making. As international growth continues to be a priority, the Subway name will likely power this expansion just as well as it fueled early US growth.

So next time you grab a footlong Meatball Marinara or Veggie Delite, think about the brand name that made it all possible – Subway!