Subway Closed Over 700 Locations in 2025, Here's Why

Have you felt that your favorite fast food location has been a little harder to come by recently? That’s because they’re all shutting their restaurants. No, seriously: Over the last 12 months or so, we’ve seen a contraction in store numbers at a lot of massive chains. Wendy’s has announced that it’s closing hundreds of locations, and Pizza Hut is doing the same – and grocery stores are shutting up shop too, with 7-Eleven and Amazon Fresh either slimming down their portfolio or ceasing to exist in physical form entirely.

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Subway might be one of the heaviest hit of them all, though. Last year, it closed well over 700 locations across the US, and its pace of closures outpaced its new openings. So, what’s going on? Here’s the deal.

Subway: All Change

According to a filing reviewed by Fox Business and discussed via PennLive, Subway closed a net 729 locations in 2025, marking the biggest number of single-year closures in a long time for the chain. Subway opened 499 locations in the same period, but this resulted in a total loss in the restaurant chain’s unit stock – and, on top of that, it also temporarily shuttered roughly 800 locations at the end of 2025, although the restaurant does plan to re-open the majority of these.

These extensive closures have had an impact on Subway’s overall numbers, which have been in decline for a couple of years now. Back in 2015, the sandwich giant had more than 27,000 stores, according to QSR Magazine. Now, it has just over 18,750. That’s a big drop, despite the already mammoth size of the chain.

So, What’s Going On?

Well, a couple of things. In a statement to QSR, Subway stated that it is “focused on ensuring restaurants are in the right locations with the real estate, visibility and operations that set franchisees up to succeed long-term.” As such, these closures are part of an endeavor to slim out its unit stock to ensure that it reflects the right balance of availability to quality.

That said, it’s hard to deny that the chain has faced significant trouble in recent years. The arrest and subsequent imprisonment of long-time spokesperson Jared Fogle created challenges for the brand, which sought to distance itself from Fogle during the subsequent media attention, and it’s also had to deal with a lot of competition from the likes of Jersey Mike’s in recent years. Domestically, it’s in trickier territory than it was before – but internationally, its operations are picking up speed. So, it’s not all bad news for the chain, huh?