Firehouse Restaurant Group, Inc., doing business as Firehouse Subs, is an American multinational

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, is a restaurant that does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast-food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is a ...

restaurant chain based in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, that specializes in submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1994 in Jacksonville, Florida by former firefighter brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen. It is a subsidiary of

Restaurant Brands International Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational fast food holding company. It was formed in 2014 by the $12.5 billion merger between American fast food restaurant chain Burger King and Canadian ...

, which also owns the chains

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

Popeyes Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. is an American multinational chain of fried chicken restaurants founded in 1972 in New Orleans and headquartered in Miami. It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. , Popey ...

, and

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, Doughnut, donuts, sandwiches, Breakfast sandwich, breakfast egg mu ...

. Firehouse Subs has 1300 restaurants in 46 states,

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and soon the

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and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

by 2025 and in

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in 2026.

History

Brothers Chris Sorensen and Robin Sorensen followed the same career path as their father Rob Sorensen, a 43-year veteran of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department in Jacksonville, Florida. On October 10, 1994, the first Firehouse Subs restaurant opened in Jacksonville. Firehouse Subs first attempted

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

in 1995. Soon after, the founders decided to pull back on the idea, eventually buying back those franchised locations. Instead, they chose to focus on operating company-owned stores only, especially in the Jacksonville area. Firehouse Subs Catering Box

In 1998, Firehouse Subs surpassed 10 locations, and later that year opened the first location outside of Florida. In 2000, the founders decided to take a different approach, using consultants to plan franchise growth. They were able to set up financing for potential franchisees. The second wave of franchising began in 2001. In 2011, Firehouse Subs opened its first franchises in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, via local franchisee Caribbean Restaurants. By 2012 the company reached 500 locations, ending the year with nearly 600. In July 2016, Firehouse Subs opened its 1,000th location. In 2015, Firehouse Subs opened its first locations in Canada, with its first location opening in

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in October with franchisee OnFire Restaurant Group. Currently, the group operates 50 Canadian restaurants, with plans to open a total of 90 in Ontario alone. The chain also launched a

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

. In June 2017, Firehouse Subs opened its first airport location at Jacksonville International. In December 2017, the brand's second airport location opened at Orlando International. In April 2018, the chain opened its first on-campus location at Western New England University. In 2020 the chain opened a location at Jacksonville's Baptist Medical Center. On November 15, 2021,

parent

announced that it would acquire Firehouse Subs for $1 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 15, 2021. On June 22, 2023, Firehouse Subs opened its first location outside North America in Zurich, Switzerland.

Restaurant concept and food

Owing to the Sorensens' involvement in firefighting, the interior decor of Firehouse Subs locations is inspired by fire stations, and often includes firefighter equipment and memorabilia. Each location features a custom mural, hand drawn and painted at the company's headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. The murals reflect fire and police service unique to each restaurant's community or town. No two of the more than 1,200 murals painted are the same.

The menu, which features hot specialty subs, salads, and other seasonal items, takes inspiration from the firehouse with names like Hook & Ladder, Engineer, and Firehouse Hero. The subs are prepared with meats and cheeses, on toasted sub rolls, and served "Fully Involved" with vegetables and condiments. Chris and Robin remain in charge of the menu, and work alongside their director of product development Jay Miller, who joined the company in 2017.

References

External links

*
Firehouse Subs Menu
{{authority control, state=expanded 1994 establishments in Florida 2021 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1994 Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Family-owned companies of the United States Fast casual restaurants Fast-food chains of the United States Multinational companies based in Jacksonville American subsidiaries of foreign companies Restaurant Brands International Restaurants established in 1994 Restaurants in Florida Submarine sandwich restaurants Fast-food franchises

History

Restaurant concept and food

Menu

See also

References

External links