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Subway franchisees will no longer be required to sell the $ 5 billion following a franchisee's revolt earlier this year.
When the chain of sandwiches announced in December that it would bring back a new offer, charging $ 4.99 instead of $ 5 for a "footlong" sandwich, the reactions were mixed. At the time, 400 angry franchisees signed a protest petition claiming that the company's discounting strategy reduced already thin profit margins.
"The national promotion in the last five years has decimated [us] and left many franchisees unprofitable and even insolvent, "wrote the petitioners, led by franchisee Virginia Mitesh Raval, in a letter to Subway in December, reported the New York Post.
Footlong became a huge success for the company as customers sought value during the recession. However, in the years that followed, some franchisees complained that it was hurting their business.
Now the management is backing down. The new CEO of the company, Trevor Haynes, told USA Today Monday that franchisees would no longer be required to offer the deal. Franchisees can always offer the transaction in their stores if they wish.
"How can we help our franchisees with a more regional value message, so that they can (have) a value proposition that fits their business model," he said. "If you look at California, the cost of doing business is very different from that of Arkansas."
Subway did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request to comment on the change.
The chain has been struggling in recent years. Its number of US stores dropped by more than 900 in 2017, almost three times more than the year before.
Sales declined in Subway stores in the United States last year, as people familiar with the situation told Kate Taylor of Business Insider. His former CEO, Suzanne Greco, announced that she would retire after 45 years spent with the company in May.
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