Subway Called Out By John Oliver On HBO

CONNECTICUT — Milford-based Subway and its relationship with franchisees was the subject of a blistering 20-plus minute segment on HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

“It can seem like Subway is in the news pretty often, and it’s rarely for anything good,” Oliver quipped.

More than 100 franchisees wrote an open letter to the parent company of Subway, saying their dreams of running a local sandwich shop have turned into a nightmare.

“We watched as the high performing stores that we put our blood, sweat, and tears into were taken from us by Subway Development Agents, because there was a smudge on our window, or cucumbers were not sliced to a precise thickness,” the franchisees wrote. “There was little that we could do about that. As Subway Franchisees we don’t directly lease our stores from the landlord, we sublease them from Subway even though we are the ones that find and choose the locations.”

The franchisees also said that Subway forced them to keep the same hours during the COVID-19 pandemic and to use PPP loans to subsidize loss leading promotions.

Oliver also talked about Subway’s lack of exclusive territory in contracts, which is a reason why the stores are plentiful in many areas.

“There are literally 10 Subways in a one-mile radius of where I'm sitting right now,” he said. “You could go to all 10 stores, order a foot-longer in each, and be back here in less than an hour.”

Subway released a statement that said the program inaccurately characterized the company and its relationship with franchisees, according to CT Insider. The company said it is under new leadership and has a different business approach than in the past.