Restaurant chain Subway wants over 40 units in Romania in the next four years. The operator recently opened its first outlet in Bucharest, in Victoriei Square, under a franchise contract with Romanian Cristian Stefanescu (in picture, below). The franchise owner tries to distance Subway from fast food operators like McDonald's, Burger King and KFC, claiming that Subway's fresh sandwiches and salads deserve to be classified differently. Sandwich prices are RON 8, 9 and RON 14 for the double sandwich.

The 140-sqm restaurant in downtown Bucharest is the first of a series. Future openings are planned for Iulius Mall in Cluj – Napoca and Palas shopping center in Iasi, both scheduled by the end of 2012.

The franchise costs for Subway are of EUR 7,500 a month, plus an 8 percent fee of the turnover for the franchise fund and 4.5 percent for the advertising fund.

Subway currently runs 36,000 restaurants in 98 countries. Regionally, the company already operates units in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Slovakia and Croatia.

editor@romania-insider.com