Week 10 Article: Quiznos Comeback

 At the age of 23, Erik Stromness bought his first Quiznos franchise. He managed to fix up the struggling restaurant and sell it off in better shape than when he had found it.

 “The first one I bought was a really tiny location and it wasn’t run really well,” Stromness said. “So I got it going better, sold that one and bought the one I have in Salt Lake.”

 Six years later, after closing several hundred stores due to a struggling economy and a market saturated with competition, the Quiznos chain is fighting to make comeback much like the one Stromness accomplished six years ago.

 This Sunday and Monday will be the annual Quiznos convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Franchise owners from around the country will convene to see the new products and policies being unveiled by the company.

 “They are doing a brand relaunch in April and they are changing the menu,” said Jeremy Whitehouse, a Quiznos franchisee who owns locations in Logan and Salt Lake. “They’ve tested these ideas across the nation. It should bring new life back into the brand.”

 Among the changes to the Quiznos brand include several new sandwiches, a larger budget for marketing and a shift in advertising to a more local level.

 Utahns, however, have had a sneak preview of the new menu being released in May. Many locations, including the local Logan Quiznos, have been selected to market the changes in the menu.

 More important than the change in the menu though, according to Whitehouse, is a change in attitude to focus more on the local communities they serve.

 “You can only do so much with TV and radio advertising,” Whitehouse said. “You got to do local marketing, go out and let the people know you are there.”

 The lack of franchise owner connection to the store, according to Stromness, is what has caused the mass of closed Quiznos locations around the world.

 “The issue with restaurants is that if you aren’t willing to be a part of the restaurant, to work in the restaurant and help it in some way, then it doesn’t matter what kind of location you have for the restaurant—it will die,” Stromness said. “That’s the reason why these stores close.”

 “The problem has been absentee owners who don’t really care; people who own a store just so they can own it,” Whitehouse said. “I’ll spend four or five hours a week in a store, just marketing to people in a local area.”

 Over the past several years, the company has struggled from lawsuits filed by many of their own franchise owners, as well as accumulating a debt of over 800 million dollars.

 With the announced changes the company was able to cut its debt nearly in half, according to Stromness.

 With the upcoming changes to the Quiznos franchise, Whitehouse is optimistic that the company will make a comeback. Ultimately, he hopes that it will become a regular stop for the locals in Logan as well as sandwich-lovers around the world.

 “They’ve tested ideas across the nation, found out what the public wants and now they will put it into implementation,” Whitehouse said. “We’re going to see a lot more media attention and a lot more marketing at a local level in the store. There will be a lot of changes that will be positive in the community.”