A Galway entrepreneur who opened his first Subway store over five years ago is now employing more than 40 people having brought a new concept for selling subs to the people of the city.
Jonathan Corbett is one of the first Subway franchisees in Ireland to move with the times by opening a Subway kiosk which enables franchisees to own and operate their own business for a fraction of the cost of opening a high street store.
The new 200 square feet kiosk is one fifth the size of a typical sized store and Mr Corbett’s decision to open his first Subway kiosk in the Eyre Square Centre in Galway city has led to the creation of five new jobs.
The Subway kiosk is located on the shopping mall serving the full menu of tasty and low fat subs that Subway customers are used to, even though the subs are freshly baked each day in a kitchen off site.
“This new concept made it possible for me to expand my business and to create five new jobs in a recession. The Subway kiosk has been so successful that I am planning on opening two more and on creating ten more new jobs, most likely in Galway, before the year is out,” Mr Corbett said.
“I estimate that the cost of setting up the kiosk was 50 per cent less than the cost of opening a high street store. The fact that it takes fewer people to run the Subway kiosk and that I have lower rents and no heating or lighting costs in a location where footfall couldn’t be any higher has given me great confidence about expanding my business,” he added.
Mr Corbett who also owns and operates Subway stores in the Westside Business Park and the Newcastle Road in Galway as well as in Carlow explained that people were now more price conscious than ever.
“People are thinking twice about what they spend on their lunch or a snack. We have responded to that and our Sub of the Day menu allows people to choose a different Sub each day for just €2.99. We have also found that our subs are very popular with people who play sports and who want to grab something to eat on the way to or from the gym, football or exercise activities,” Mr Corbett added.
His initiative in being one of the first Subway franchisees to open a Subway kiosk was praised by Paul Heyes, development agent for the Subway chain in Ireland.
“The Subway kiosk concept is designed to make it easy and cost effective for entrepreneurs to become Subway franchisees and for our existing franchisees to expand their business. Franchisees like Mr Corbett have proven that the concept works and we look forward to the opening of more new kiosks over the coming months,” Mr Heyes said.
