What's happening?

The Washington Post reports that Subway plans to close 500 of its stores in the United States, although it's unclear if any Subway locations in Minnesota will be closing. 

Subway is the world's largest restaurant chain with more than 44,000 stores across the globe, 26,000 of them in the U.S., so 500 isn't exactly a significant portion of its portfolio.

Closing a 'few hundred' stores

In an email to BMTN, a Subway spokesperson said the 500 stores the Washington Post reported is a projection, not a confirmed number, but a "few hundred" restaurants will close in 2018. 

There isn't a list of locations soon to shutter their doors because every restaurant is independently owned and operated, so any decision to close will be made by local owners, the spokesperson said.

"In North America we are implementing an aggressive revitalization plan, which we expect to result in the closing, consolidation or relocation of a few hundred locations in 2018," he added.

Subway plans to open more than 1,000 new restaurants outside of North America this year while it expects to have a "slightly smaller, but more profitable footprint" in North America within the next decade. 

Part of Subway's revitalization plan came in March when it rolled out a signature wraps collection for the first time in 53 years:

• Chipotle southwest steak and cheese 
• Turkey, bacon and guacamole 
• Savory, rotisserie-style chicen caesar

But performance at Subway's limited-service chainstores have seen a steady drop in market shares, falling from 6.4 percent in 2013 to 4.7 percent last year, the Washington Post noted. 

While Subway is on a downturn, Jersey Mike's Subs are among the fastest growing restaurant chains in the country, listed as a top five grower in 2016, according to Nation's Restaurant News.