Starbucks was America’s fastest growing fast food chain last year, while Subway keeps shedding stores
QSR Magazine's annual ranking of America’s 50 largest fast food chains is out, and Starbucks has once again topped the list of fastest-growing chains, adding a whopping 589 stores in the US in the last year — more than any other restaurant in the top 50.
Those stores might not be as busy as they would have been in the past, with the coffee house reporting last week that same-store sales and foot traffic fell once again despite its ambitious turnaround plans to continue expanding while also dramatically improving the customer experience.
On the other end of the spectrum, Subway lost another 631 units this year, continuing the years-long drop in store count which began in 2016 and has seen the sandwich chain trim 7,600 locations in the US. Some of that ground is being made up internationally, where the sandwich-maker remains in growth mode, signing 25 master franchise agreements in the past three and a half years.
Wingin’ it
A close runner-up in the rankings was the relatively unknown fried chicken chain Krispy Krunchy Chicken, which has added 325 units since the last report, with another chicken outlet, Wingstop, not far behind.
Considering how much competition there is in the space — with heavyweights like KFC and Chick-fil-A, as well as a flood of hot names like Raising Cane’s, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Church’s Chicken, and others — to be growing that quickly is testament not only to their food and operations, but to just how insatiable America’s appetite for chicken is right now.
Indeed, no chain is more efficient than the chicken giant Chick-fil-A, which racked up average sales per store of $7.5 million in 2024, ahead of another bird-based wonder, Raising Cane’s, where average sales were $6.6 million. Subway’s per store average? Just $495,000.
