INTERNATIONAL fast food franchise, Subway, is relocating one of its St Andrew restaurants from the Mall Plaza food court on Constant Spring Road further uptown.

The Subway outlet is being moved to Lower Manor Park Plaza, where it will operate from leased commercial space in the Facey family-owned shopping complex. The new restaurant had a soft opening on Saturday, but there are plans for a grand opening over the next fortnight.

According to Subway (Jamaica) Limited personnel manager, Robert Vincent, the restaurant, famous for its made-to-order submarine sandwiches, was unable to offer its full service at the Mall Plaza branch.

“There were certain functions we couldn’t do there like breakfast and pizzas,” Vincent told the Business Observer.

Subway will compete with two other international fast food giants, Burger King and KFC, also located in the Lower Manor Park Plaza. The neighbouring Upper Manor Park Plaza, separated by a gas station, includes local quick service restaurants Island Grill and Sugar & Spice.

Despite the fierce competition, Vincent is confident that the restaurant will do well at its new location, particularly because it is closer to its middle to high-income customer base in the Manor Park area, which is surrounded by affluent neighbourhoods such as Norbrook, Waterworks and Stony Hill.

“We are hoping for better sales because we certainly have a customer base in that area,” he said.

Subway (Jamaica) Limited was incorporated in 1995. The Companies Office of Jamaica lists the restaurant’s shareholders as attorney-at-law Donovan Walker, Barbara Walker, Ingrid Walker and Earnest Borushek, based on their 2010 Annual Return. The only two other Subway branches in Jamaica are both located in St Andrew — one on Old Hope Road in Liguanea and the other at the Oaklands Shopping Complex on Constant Spring Road.

Although Subway meals are generally priced a fraction above its fast food competitors in Jamaica — a six-inch Subway sandwich costs at least $600, over $100 more expensive than a whopper value meal at Burger King — Vincent said that the franchise has managed to remain competitive, boosted by its healthy food value proposition.

“If you look at the prices at KFC and Burger King, that gap is closing, plus people are looking to eat healthier,” he said.

Subway can boast that it has survived over 10 years in a fast food market that has been unkind to international companies other than KFC and Burger King, which established footholds here decades ago.

McDonald’s, which came to Jamaica in 1996, closed its eight restaurants and left the market less than a decade later, having failed to find a suitable franchisee for the operation here.

Taco Bell and Church’s Chicken are other names that have come and gone within a short period of time.

Subway has over 35,000 locations in 98 countries.