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Subway targets more than 200 restaurants

DUBAI - Subway restaurants has announced their ambitious plan to double their number in the UAE from 104 restaurants, defining the brand as the largest restaurant chain in the UAE, to more than 200 by 2015.

The announcement was made by Marwan Abdullah Abdul Malik Al Hamar, Subway’s Development Agent for the UAE, at a media roundtable on Tuesday.

Marwan, an Emirati businessman, is the owner of the main concession to develop, operate and manage Subway restaurants in the UAE.

Marwan explained that his expansion plan was related to demographic changes in the UAE.

“The working class is being replaced by the middle income class which has a higher financial quality and spending power,” he said.

“The market will boom again in the next three to five years. The real estate is low at present so people are moving to the UAE and Dubai. Infrastructure spend in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is among the highest in the world which is attracting people,” Marwan said predicting that Dubai population would increase to five million by 2015.

He pointed out that the number of Subway restaurants had grown by 100 per cent in the last two years.

“We will increase the number this year from 104 to 125 and add 25 new restaurants every year till 2015. The new restaurants will be opened all over the UAE in areas having concentration of people at locations convenient to them. Our aim is to provide best quality food and service to our customers for which we emphasise on international standard training of our staff,” 
Marwan said.

He said that 50 of the Subways were at petrol stations or close to them with six more opening this year and more next year. They are also located in malls, universities and schools with plans to open at hospitals. “The stand-alone stores top in business followed by those in the malls,” he said.

Marwan said that there were some 150 nationalities with differing tastes residing in the UAE. “We try to cover as many of them as we can. Our menu will remain more or less the same. We are introducing a pure vegetarian sandwich with no animal fat since there is demand for it,” he said.

Marwan opened his first Subway restaurant in Deira City Centre in 1998 and went on to become a Subway Agent in 1999. In 2009, Marwan was named Subway Development Agent of the Year by Subway International.

More than 850 employees are currently employed in the Subway restaurant chain across the UAE.

Subway was founded in 1965. In 1984, the restaurant brand ventured outside North America with the opening of an outlet in Bahrain. Currently, the Subway restaurant chain enjoys the distinction of being the world’s largest submarine sandwich franchise, with more than 34,000 locations in 96 countries.

Subway is the largest chain in the MENA region with more than 300 outlets. It is the largest submarine franchise in the Arab world too with over 245 outlets located in vibrant and convenient venues in the UAE (104), Kuwait (42), Saudi Arabia (43), Qatar (17), Jordan (11), Oman (9), Bahrain (11), Egypt (4) and Lebanon (5).
—business@khaleejtimes.com