Samliya area has 300 hundred restaurants by its self! i once read an article in Kuwait times, that Kuwait should be called Ma63amestan, like Pakistan. Because of the many restaurants we have, restaurants in Kuwait are very profitable but when you think about it, we arefamily oriented people. we are supposed to have lunch always at home and maybe dinner too. but things are changing fast and restauarnts are on the rise (and obesity too) but i’m not gona bother you with health issues today. Subway came to Kuwait in 1997 some thing like that, at that time it had a small kiosk in sultan center salmiya, and in the old salmiya opposite BKME branch. At that time the owner of the leading subs franchise was Sultan Center, hence the kiosk. But at that time, it made little profits, so i guess in 2000 it got sold to Al Mutairy business man and boom! the franchise exploded. It has about 5 branches in most US army posts in Kuwait and most co-ops, salmiya and souk sharq all that and the thing i like about such restaurant that it requires no chimney or cooking oil. This means you can setup a restaurant anyway with just an electricity plug like the sultan old kiosk. Now everybody loves Subway and knows what is bieng sold compared to 6 years back. In business “timing” is everything and Al Mutairy introduced subway in the right time and even better expanded, thats sultan’s mistake, no patience nor expansion. Just to make you understand how profitable subway in Kuwait is: the Salmiya branch alone makes about 4000kd net profits, after taking all the expenses out like rent and salaries. So thats about 48,000kd a year! nice digits ay:) So do you think that subway became profitable because of timing or health awareness in Kuwait?Â
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May 11th, 2007 at 3:20 am
marketing.. i never even knew subway existed in sultan center
May 11th, 2007 at 3:29 am
Enigma: it use too exist, not any more at sultan
May 11th, 2007 at 3:31 am
i agree with enigma
i think it was hiding…
ok why am writing in english?
انا بكتب عربى Ùˆ انتوا كيÙكم عاد:)
أعنقد انة كان مخشوش..او الناس عبالها بسطةتبيع خيز و جبن..
الموقع غير Ùكرة الناس عنة اولا Ùˆ غيرت نظرة الناس له
another booming bussnis in the corn in a cup stands
المشكلة بالكويت…من تسوى شى صغير مثل عربات الذرة الناس كلها تقلدك
ØªØ°Ø¨Ø Ø§Ù„Ùكرة
May 11th, 2007 at 3:47 am
I remember the one in Sultan, but no one cared back then bcz we didn’t have this Americanization, like now.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:41 am
Marketing.
Has nothing to do with health.
May 11th, 2007 at 6:33 am
Definitely it’s the “we want to eat healthier” issue…
After they heard of the subway diet, now almost everyone I know is doing it…
May 11th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
hmmm, can you elaborate on the ” Subway Diet ? “
May 11th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
بومريوم : makhshoosh maybe, check out my post on the corn ” http://io81.com/?p=102 ” its in the startup section.
nychick: the problem is, when do you know that we have gone into the Americaniztion period?
Delicately Realistic: we all blame it on marketing, my next post will be about marketing and how unrealistic it is.
Blue dress: the health thing is starting in Kuwait, you can notice it from..the diet centers that are coming up.
Freak: i’ll keep that post for you.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
where you got that figure from ? as most Kuwaiti business refuse to release any real numbers most of the time
and which mutair is it ? the parliment mebers ?
May 11th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
forzaq8: thats what i do in most of my free time, research business and get insider info, figuring out how much them make..i mean i can find out exactly how much your salary is by using simple numbers:P but do not know if he is a MP
May 11th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
la hatha wala hatha
location and advertisement
ppl love to eat
you just gotta let em know where the good food is
plus its YUM
May 12th, 2007 at 1:33 am
eshda3wa: hmm its sounds very simple! from your perspective
May 12th, 2007 at 5:03 am
I think with all the junk food out there, people are getting bored and turning to subway. thinking its fresh and healthy. hah! my friends love subway, but they fill their sandwiches with ketchup and mayo! and they keep repeating “wallah 7ilow o khafeef” 6al ib3aainkom khafeef!!
ok now back to topic
its got nothing to do with marketing, I’ve never seen a commercial for subway, not even an ad in the papers.
I just think people are getting tired of the fast food chains. in the nineties we had mcdonalds and burger king opening in kuwait for the first time, Kuwaitis were caught up in their novelty. bs now they’re bored and turning to subway. I think its all about the timing.
May 12th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Bottled: exactly, no marketing was done for subway, timing is perfect when al mutairi got it:) thanks for your comment
May 12th, 2007 at 10:03 am
I personally eat there because I simply like it. I have been eating there since they first brought it to Kuwait. What advertisement? Then again I don’t read newspapers, watch tv nor i6amash around, so I haven’t seen any ads anywhere.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:04 am
nQ: no ads are available for subway, but simply its ease of ordering and customizing your sandwicth makes it a good place for repeat business
May 12th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
The reason I think subway succeeded to the extent it did is down to three things - location, location, and location!!!
The old subway was in old salmiya, there is no way in hell I would drive all the way to salmiya with all its traffic just to get a sandwich, no matter how good or healthy it is!
The new subway owners shifted from having the restaurant in places like salmiya to places like coops! I think that made all the difference. The Khaldiya store is 24hours, and is ALWAYS busy! Anytime you go, even at 3am, you will find someone there! Same with Adeliya coop, Tha7ya coop, Nuzha coop …. and so on. It is the only healthy quick alternative to fastfood that is 5 mins away! I really am impressed with what the new management did and they deserve the success they are getting!
btw, Subway did have an ad campaign last year, a stupid one at that, but at least they did try to spend on advertising.
May 12th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
[...] over at io81 shares with us another great business in Kuwait. Subway came to Kuwait in 1997 some thing like [...]
April 14th, 2009 at 12:56 am
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