Quiznos follows Sbarro into bankruptcy court

[Redfairen]

Source: Bloomberg

Quiznos Corp., the Denver-based toasted-sandwich chain, filed for bankruptcy just days after pizzeria company Sbarro LLC sought protection from creditors, as competition among fast-food restaurants grows in a tight market.

“It’s a survival of the fittest,” Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Chicago-based restaurant researcher Technomic Inc., said in a phone interview before today’s filing. “The market is not growing, or it’s barely growing, so the weak players are getting weeded out.”

Competition among U.S. restaurants has been increasing as newer fast-casual chains expand quickly. Sbarro filed for bankruptcy on March 10, while the owner of Hot Dog on a Stick filed last month, as foot traffic in shopping malls dwindled and chains such as Panera Bread Co., Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Subway Restaurants cut into their business.

Quiznos listed debt of more than $500 million in Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. It’s seeking to implement a plan that it said would cut debt by $400 million. Senior lenders “overwhelmingly” support the plan and the chain will continue operations during reorganization, according to a company statement.


Read more: http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-14/quiznos-follows-sbarro-into-bankruptcy-court.html

[Javaman]

1. You mean the same Quiznos with the toasted mouth shredding bun? nt

[sakabatou]

2. Mouth shredding?

[Javaman]

16. ever eat their sandwiches with the toasted bread?

it shreds the hell out of the inside of my mouth.

[sakabatou]

17. Never went into one before

I usually go to Subway.

[Javaman]

18. unknownly, your mouth thanks you. ;) lol nt

[sakabatou]

19. Heheheheh

[titaniumsalute]

24. I know EXACTLY what you mean

It's like somehow the toasting process produces barbed wire in the bread or something. Very weird. They always tasted OK but it did tear up your mouth.

[RebelOne]

32. I never go to either one.

And both Subway and Quiznos are with a mile from my house. I am not a fan of fast foods.

[Codeine]

21. It's the sandwich equivalent of Captain Crunch,

the breakfast cereal that tastes like blood and pain.

[Javaman]

22. ...

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

!!

[Auggie]

3. Probably could never recover from those horrible commercials:

Ladies and gentlemen, the Spongmonkeys:

[Incitatus]

6. I have wondered who thought it was a good

idea to use rodents in a commercial for a sub shop. I'm not a marketing mastermind, but I wouldn't want people associating that with my food business.

[Auggie]

10. I think it was the head of marketing or company president ...

their ad budget was really minuscule, and they thought an over-the-top execution would get them greater notice vs. heavyweight advertisers like McDonald's. It worked to a degree -- the campaign was reported on by the media and they got added P.R. exposure.

I'm in advertising and I follow stories like these.

[CatholicEdHead]

15. Sucessful campaign when it came out

People still remember it to this day as bad as it was, it stood out. It is probably the first thing people think of when they think of Quiznos.

[sakabatou]

20. Oh god, why?!

[Scootaloo]

26. because back then people were just "discovering" the internet

And because there was no Youtube at the time, rathergood.com was the go-to place for "funny videos." So Quiznos jumped onto that bandwagon.

Could be worse.

Could have been hamsterdance.

[NickB79]

25. An old woman CHEWED ME OUT over that commercial

When I worked at a Quiznos in college. She was furious about how we'd use disgusting roadkill squirrels for our ads.

I was like, yes ma'am, I'll get right on the phone and call the corporate office with your concerns. After all, that's why they pay me a whopping $7/hr.

[Systematic Chaos]

29. I thought these commercials were cute as fuckall. They were based on a funny video.

This was one of the first major ad campaigns to run with an internet meme, and as a nerd I just LOVED it.

What I thought was utterly disgusting, though, was the ad where the lady pulled the mostly eaten Quiznos sub out of the fucking trash to get at it, while walking down the street with a co-worker in business attire!

Whoever thought this up needs to go on the Dr. Steve Brule dumpster seafood diet.

&list=PL55747C44C1FBB768

[dembotoz]

4. chain had been having problerms for a long time

franchise owners freaked about fees or some such
too much of a better deal for the corporate than the locals or some such
remember mostly thinking --damn--sucks to be them.

still hate to see folks loose their shirts

[regnaD kciN]

5. They used to be great...

...but then, when they first started having problems, they brought in a new corporate management that decided the solution lay in "simplifying the product" -- which, in their case, meant dropping about half the menu and shrinking the portions and cheapening the ingredients of the remainder (while raising prices, of course).

Meanwhile, Subway (which had, frankly, been terrible 10-15 years ago) improved their product and beat Quizno's at their own game by expanding their line to include custom subs similar to the ones the latter's management had axed.

Quizno's used to be a standard grab-a-quick-meal destination for my family, but, after their "simplification," I don't think I'd been in one more than once or twice over the last half-decade.

[TlalocW]

7. I liked them too

They were more expensive than Subway, but I thought they were worth it every now and then.

TlalocW

[1000words]

8. Love their peppercorn sauce

[shenmue]

9. I thought they had good sandwiches.

I went there many times. I heard that the business model was just really hard for the would-be owners. High fees, having to wait a long time to open, that sort of thing.

[KamaAina]

11. Subway ate their lunch, so to speak, when it started offering toasted subs

Toasting was all Quizno's had going for it. Then Subway put toasting ovens in each of its 6,347,295,831 locations , and Quizno's was, well ,toast.

[MicaelS]

13. Yep, that was the beginning of the end for Quiznos.

Used to eat at Quzinos a lot. Their sandwiches were very good, but expensive compared to Subways. When Subway introduced toasting, I gave theirs a try, decided it was a good as Quiznos and it was cheaper and never ate at a Quiznos again.

[penultimate]

14. I thought Quiznos was awesome when I first went to one around 2000/2001

but at the time I was only exposed to Blimpy's and Subway... Overtime other options became available and even subway started to taste a little better and cost less.

[Scootaloo]

27. Subway still doesn't even have a close approximation of a cuban pork sandwich, though

Granted quiznos' take on it was pretty lame, but it was SOMETHING.

Sadly, neither ever came up with an attempt at a bánh mì, nature's perfect sandwich.

[KamaAina]

30. Nature's perfect sandwich would not have mayo on it

[calguy]

12. Can't feel sorry for them

Their sandwiches were small and very
Over priced. Inferior all the way. AND.....they had Rush pushing their stuff on his show. That's when I decided never to set foot in their stores ever again.

[calimary]

28. Welcome to DU, calguy!

Glad you're here! I found their sandwiches pretty okay. But it was a jaunt into a trafficky area, whereas the local Subway was within walking distance. If I'd known that gas giant was pushing their stuff on his show I never would have patronized them even that once! Good to know, but then again, it sounds as though the ever-lovin' "free market" might be settling things soon enough. We make our own these days and besides, we aren't eating much bread anymore.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

23. Way too expensive for the crap they served.

Good riddance.

[pothos]

31. exactly.

$$$

does not surprise me at all.