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QIP Holder, LLC d/b/a Quiznos Sub
Type	private
Founded	1981
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado
Key people	Gregory D. Brenneman, CEO Rick Schaden, Chairman John L. Gallivan, CFO
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Subs, Salads other food products
Revenue	$130 million USD (2004
Website	http://www.quiznos.com/

Quiznos Sub is a fast-food sandwich franchise that specializes in toasted submarine sandwiches. As of 2005, it is the second-largest submarine sandwich shop chain in North America, passing the older and slower-growing Blimpie, though still a fraction of the size of Subway.

There are over 5,000 shops located in the United States, over 300 in Canada, and 100 more scattered in 20 other countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Japan, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Turkey, El Salvador, Guam and Panama. In 2002, Wendy's Supa Sundaes acquired the rights to the brand for franchises in Australia (and later, New Zealand).

All of Quiznos' sandwiches are served toasted, although they will be served untoasted at the customer's request. The best selling subs are the Classic Italian, the Mesquite Chicken with Bacon, the Prime Rib Cheesesteak, the Chicken Carbonara, and the Turkey, Ranch and Swiss sub.^{[citation needed]}

While Quiznos did not originate the toasted sub, their rapid success is thought to have led to other chains following suit. Subway began offering toasted subs in 2004; Boston Market began toasting their sandwiches in 2005, and Blimpie began offering toasted subs in 2006.

Contents 1 History 2 Advertising 3 Corporate structure and leadership 4 Quiznos in the news 4.1 Alleged unfair treatment of franchisees 4.2 Suicide of a franchise owner 4.3 Bad publicity 4.4 Profitability 4.5 Nutritional Information Newly Available 4.6 Sub Size in Canada 5 References 6 External links

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The first Quiznos Sub restaurant opened at 13th and Grant in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1981. In 1987, after overhearing a comment by a customer, Rick Schaden opened the first franchise in Boulder, Colorado. In 1991, Schaden and his father purchased the entire franchise operation.

In December 2001, Quiznos, which at the time was a lightly-traded public company 60%-owned by the Schadens, went private, at a $8-per-share price considered low by several of its shareholders. The disgruntled shareholders sued; their suits were settled in September 2004, with Quiznos paying them another $7.35 per share after fees.

In 2003, Quiznos began to expand in earnest in Canada, where it had established a small foothold a couple of years earlier. Quiznos has very aggressively pursued potential franchisees in Canada, and some cities (such as London, Ontario and Windsor, Ontario) have gained up to 10 franchises within a very short time.

Over the years, Quiznos has had varied success at advertising campaigns. The company's first major advertising splash came with a successful ad during the 2002 Super Bowl. Early TV spots advertised the innovation of toasting sandwiches, as compared to the inventor of pants (humorously contrasted with men wearing bushes). Another ad that debuted in 2003 depicted a man "raised by wolves" suckling at a mother wolf's teat; this however was not so successful. A pair of ads in early 2004 featuring Spongmonkeys produced strongly mixed reactions by reviewers and the ads were quickly pulled.

Quiznos ads in Canada have featured hockey commentator Don Cherry.

In 2005, Quiznos launched a series of ads featuring Baby Bob; like the Spongmonkeys, Bob originated as an Internet blog phenomenon, but was also attached to a short-lived CBS TV series. In the new commercials, Bob is voiced by Ken Hudson Campbell.

Nationally the subs feature a Quiznos sub with digital steam emanating from it with the slogan, "Mmmm... toasty," spoken as "Mm mm mm mm mm... toasty."

Quiznos has also been known to take advantage of underground advertising phenomena in localized areas. For example, they were one of the first advertisers to put ads on the back of famous San Francisco eccentric and alien protester Frank Chu's sign.

In June 2006, Quiznos revealed their new slogan: "Eat Up."

On September 18, 2006, Quiznos launched the most aggressive advertising campaign aimed at Subway. Dubbed the Prime Rib Cheesesteak Challenge, customers are challenged to compare the brand new Prime Rib Cheesesteak against Subway's Cheesesteak sandwich. The claim is that the Prime Rib Cheesesteak has twice the meat of Subway's Cheesesteak. If the customers are not satisified, then they can fill out a form, mail the form along with their receipt, and they will receive a coupon for a free sandwich. One of said commercials features a woman saying '"It's not lacking any meat, and that's what real women need."

In more recent advertisements, Quizno's is shown competing with the fictional “Wrong Way” restaurant whose logo, name and toaster look similar to Subway's.

The current voice-over for the advertisements is that of TV announcer Jim Cutler.^{[citation needed]}

In Fall 2007, Quizno's unveiled "Sammies", small flatbread sandwiches available for $2.[2] In some locations, a "secret" menu item is honored: "The Samson." Ordering The Samson is the same as ordering one of each of the different kinds of Sammies.[3]

The voiceover in the commercials for the "Sammies" is actor Michael Clarke Duncan.^{[citation needed]}

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Quiznos is a privately held Limited Liability Company. Chairman Rick Schaden and his family control the company.

Quiznos has been the target of several lawsuits related to its treatment of franchisees. A New Jersey lawsuit relates to the $25,000.00 in licensing fees Quiznos charges its franchiseees. The lawsuit contends that Quiznos often collects and pockets this fee without fulfilling its obligation to find store locations. A Wisconsin lawsuit complains that Quiznos licensing agreements compel franchisees to buy all their supplies --from sandwich meat to paper towels-- from Quiznos-owned vendors that charge higher prices than those of independent suppliers. The corporation receives millions of dollars in rebates from these vendors.^[1]

On November 27, 2006, Bhupinder Baber, the franchise owner of two Long Beach, CA Quiznos, committed suicide by shooting himself in the stomach three times while inside the bathroom of a Quiznos located in Whittier, CA. Baber had been in a long legal battle with the company after suing it for opening new stores too close to his own locations.^[2] Quiznos had retaliated by terminating Baber's franchises and suing him on two separate occasions.^[3] In a two page suicide note found on Baber's body, he accused Quiznos of mistreating franchise owners like him, contributing to a rapid decline in his physical and mental health. "Quiznos has killed me. Destroyed my life. Destroyed my family life for the past seven years," Baber wrote in the note. ^[4] A group of critical Quiznos franchisees, known as The Toasted Subs Franchisee Association, posted the note on their website http://www.toastedsubs.info intending to raise funds for the Baber family. Quiznos, stating that the group was defaming the company, responded by terminating the contracts of eight franchise owners belonging to the group. These franchisees in turn filed an injunction on December 15, 2006 in the District Court of Colorado against Quiznos which is currently pending.^[5]

In June 2004, the Quizno's at Downtown Crossing, Boston, Massachusetts, was at the center of a hepatitis scare. ^[6]

Quiznos received some unusual publicity beginning in February 2005 when the Seattle Times broke the story of Dawna Lentz, a manager of a shop located in a strip mall in North Seattle, Washington. A month after the shop opened, the managing partner left, leaving an absentee owner in charge. He stopped putting money into the shop, and soon severed contact with the shop's employees altogether. Lentz kept the place running for several months, paying employees out of the cash register and buying supplies at grocery stores when the suppliers stopped delivering. Quiznos at first did not pay attention to Lentz, and her requests for help were ignored. However, when the experience became the subject of a story of an episode of PRI's This American Life, Quiznos swiftly took over operations of the store, and the company praised Lentz for her handling of the situation.

More unusual publicity came the company's way in August 2006 when the Senior Vice President of Marketing was arrested for attempting to solicit a 13 year old girl in an Internet chat room. ^[7] He was subsequently fired due to the publicity surrounding his arrest.

Although not exactly bad publicity, in April of 2007 a coyote wandered into a Quiznos in downtown Chicago, and sat down in the beverage cooler after unsuccessfully attempting to jump over the counter, while customers watched. The incident also attracted many onlookers. The animal remained passive, and did not show aggression until it was captured by animal control 40 minutes later, and taken to a wildlife rehab center. Fortunately, no one was attacked. The animal control workers named the coyote Adrian. ^[8]

Recently Entrepreneur magazine's 2007 Franchise 500 list was released and Quiznos was not on it.^[9] The magazine had ranked the sub chain #2 in 2006.^[10]

After not releasing their nutritional information until recently, it is now available at Quiznos Sub stores as well as on the menu pages of their website (beside each menu item). Also online and in store are calorie intake charts and Allergan Information.

Canadian locations unlike their American counterparts advertise subs of a specific length. Various customers have noted and complained that the subs are not in fact the advertised length.^[11]

1. ^ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/business/24quiznos.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin Creswell, Julie. "When Disillusion Sets In." The New York Times. February 24, 2007.
2. ^ http://www.denverpost.com/mobile/ci_4842595
3. ^ http://www.fastcasual.com/article.php?id=6429&na=1
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ "Quiznos franchisees fight back" By Fred Minnick 15 Dec 2006
6. ^ Hundreds Show Up For Quiznos Hepatitis Clinic
7. ^ "Quiznos Exec Lippitt Fired Following Arrest," Aug 11, 2006 10:46 am US/Mountain
8. ^ "Coyote captured in Loop to be set free," ABC 7 Chicago, Apr 4, 2007 (video and slideshow)
9. ^ http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500/index.html
10. ^ http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/rankings/franchise500-115608/2006,-1.html
11. ^ http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=484115

• Official website (US)
• Official website (Canada)
• Official website (Australia and New Zealand)
• Official website (Ireland)
• Backed into a Corner, an April 2005 story about the Seattle shop (with RealAudio) from This American Life