Potbelly and Cheba Hut Grow as Sandwich Franchise Sales Dip

Potbelly and Cheba Hut recorded sales and restaurant growth in 2025 despite a decline across the sandwich brands tracked by Franchise Times. The results, reported on 30 October 2026, show contrasting performances within the US franchise community, with expanding networks and digital investment featuring alongside a substantial contraction at Subway.

Sandwich sales fall across the ranked brands

The annual Franchise Times Top 400 ranks the largest US-based franchise brands by global systemwide sales. Its sandwich category covered 14 brands, which together generated $26.6 billion in 2025, down 0.8% from 2024. That represented a year-on-year reduction of $228 million.

Restaurant numbers also declined, although less sharply than sales. The combined estate fell 0.3% to 45,846 locations.

Those figures provide a useful benchmark, but they are not a measure of US restaurant sales alone: the ranking uses global systemwide sales for US-based brands. Nor did the category’s overall direction describe every participating business. Several brands increased both sales and their restaurant footprints during the same period.

For prospective franchisees, the distinction matters. A category-level decline can sit alongside growth at individual networks, while systemwide sales figures combine the performance of existing restaurants with changes in the number of outlets. They should not be read as equivalent to like-for-like sales growth or individual franchisee profitability.

Potbelly combines expansion with digital sales

Potbelly finished 2025 with $601 million in systemwide sales across 468 restaurants in the United States. Sales rose 7.2% from $560 million in 2024, while its restaurant count increased 6.1% year on year.

The results followed the completion of Potbelly’s sale to convenience-store company RaceTrac in autumn 2025. They placed the sandwich franchise among the brands growing against the category’s wider decline.

Digital ordering was a significant part of Potbelly’s business. Digital sales accounted for 42% of total systemwide sales in 2025, and the company also reported an increase in catering sales.

Potbelly president Adam Noyes attributed progress to investment in digital channels and product innovation. The figures put online platforms at the centre of the brand’s trading picture, rather than treating them simply as an additional route to customers.

The reported sales and restaurant increases establish that Potbelly expanded on both measures. They do not, by themselves, separate the contribution of new restaurants from changes in sales at established locations.

Cheba Hut leads percentage growth

Cheba Hut Toasted Subs posted the strongest percentage sales growth among the sandwich brands in the ranking. Its systemwide sales increased 21.5% to $182 million in 2025, placing it at No. 263 in the Top 400.

The brand added eight net stores, a 10.7% increase in its restaurant count. Like Potbelly, Cheba Hut was coming off a major investment during 2025.

Its sales growth therefore outpaced its percentage increase in locations. That comparison is notable, although the ranking’s headline figures do not establish the precise contribution of like-for-like trading, opening dates or other factors.

Jersey Mike’s also delivered growth following a substantial investment from Blackstone. The 3,256-location brand reported a 13% year-on-year sales increase, providing another example of expansion within a category whose combined sales moved downwards.

Subway and Charleys show a different picture

Subway, by far the largest business in the sandwich category, recorded an estimated 6% sales decline, according to Franchise Times. Sales ended 2025 just below $16 billion, a reduction of approximately $1 billion, and the brand fell to No. 10 in the overall ranking.

Its global restaurant estate contracted by a net 729 locations to 35,773. Subway’s scale makes its performance particularly important when interpreting the category total: its sales reduction was considerably larger than the combined category’s net decline.

Charleys Philly Steaks illustrated a different relationship between openings and sales. It added 60 net restaurants, increasing its estate by 6.9% to 934 locations, but systemwide sales remained unchanged at $746 million.

Taken together, the results show why openings, total sales and digital participation should be assessed separately. Growth in restaurant numbers did not always translate into higher systemwide revenue.

Practical takeaway: Prospective franchisees should use these rankings as a starting point, then examine brand-specific disclosures, local trading conditions and restaurant-level economics before making an investment decision.