Subway in China

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Story of James Bryant

CNN- Opening Subway franchises in the People's Republic--home of a billion potential customers--seemed like easy money. Until someone tried it.

Bryant, 50, is known in Beijing as the Franchise King, but bringing Subway to mainland China has almost knocked this entrepreneur out. Even as the number of American Subway franchises has exploded (it now has more restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald's), the China expansion has happened at a snail's pace. In the past ten years Bryant has managed to open just 19 stores in Beijing--half the 38 he was supposed to have today.

He says Subway charges him $2,000 a month for not having enough restaurants open. And he has lost money to a scheming partner, has been beaten up, and had to teach the franchising concept to a country that had never heard of it. (When he started, there was no Chinese word for "franchise.")

Why Subway Failed In China

Q1. Which of the following is the western fast food restaurant you visit the most? – Subway falls far behind KFC and Macdonald’s

|Option |Total |Proportion |

|KFC |26 |27.1% |

|Macdonald’s |59 |61.5% |

|Burger King |0 |0% |

|Pizza Hut |7 |7,3% |

|Subway |3 |3.1% |

|Papajohn’s...