John Chidsey, a former Burger King executive who was named Subway’s first CEO outside the founding DeLuca family in 2019, is retiring at the end of the year to become a consultant for the sandwich brand.
John Chidsey’s five-year reign running the world’s largest sandwich chain is coming to an end.
Subway announced Chidsey, 62, is retiring at the end of the year from the restaurant giant, which was sold in April to Roark Capital for a reported $9.6 million after federal regulators signed off on the deal. He’ll be replaced by interim CEO Carrie Walsh, Subway’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, starting January 1 while the company conducts a search for a permanent successor.
Carrie Walsh, Subway’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, will be interim CEO for the brand starting January 1 while the company conducts a search for a permanent successor.
Walsh, 48, joined Subway in 2019 and served as global chief marketing officer for the company after working in similar roles for Yum Brands, Pizza Hut and PepsiCo. As president of EMEA for Subway, she oversaw operations, finance, marketing and development activity across 50 countries and territories.
Chidsey, a former Burger King executive who was named Subway’s first CEO outside the founding DeLuca family in 2019, guided the troubled brand through a slew of stores closures and brand refreshes. He’ll continue to consult for the company with a focus on international expansion with master franchisees.
“It has been a privilege to lead Subway through a period of exciting change, and I am so proud of what the team has achieved together,” Chidsey in a statement. “I’ve worked closely with Carrie over the past five years, and I’ve witnessed firsthand her deep understanding of what it takes for a global brand to grow and evolve. Combined with her steadfast commitment to Subway and its franchisees, I’m confident Carrie is the right leader to shepherd Subway through this transition as we continue to enhance our position as a leading global restaurant brand.”
Subway and Roark did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
With Chidsey as CEO, Subway underwent a multi-year transformation of the business. It reported a brand update and remodel of 20,000 restaurants worldwide that started in 2017 and has since made a number of menu transformations while offering value deals in targeting digital growth.
In 2021, the company introduced six fresh or returning sandwiches, and four revamped signature options. The following year it unveiled a lineup of new signature sandwiches. The brand then released a line of new Deli Hero sandwiches made with freshly cut meat in 2023 and paid more than $80 million to deploy deli meat slicers in restaurants nationwide.
Earlier this month, Subway announced the launch of “Fresh Forward 2.0” for 2025, a new global restaurant image that in addition to featuring updated decor elements is designed to support growing digital channels. Self-serve kiosks, order ready screens and kitchen display systems are expected to streamline operations, the company said. It also said customers in test markets reported the new design “significantly increases their likelihood to dine in and visit Subway restaurants again.”
Fresh Forward 2.0 locations will begin rolling out around the world in the coming months, Subway said, with early adopters showcasing the new design in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Panama and Australia.
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Chidsey also led Subway’s global growth strategy, with a focus on attracting experienced and well-resourced multi-unit operators and master franchisees. As a result, the company said it has more than 10,000 future restaurant commitments and is on track to more than double the number of new restaurant openings in 2024, compared to 2019.
Subway opened roughly 1,500 restaurants outside the United States since 2022 and its international store count runs about 17,000—almost half the system.
Under Chidsey’s leadership, the company also announced a slew of executive changes last year, including naming a new president of North America.
Subway closed more than 400 domestic restaurants last year and about 7,000 locations since 2015. Despite all its unit losses and reported franchisee discontent, Subway remains one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. The company ranks No. 7 on the Franchise Times Top 400 with $20.5 billion in global sales from more than 37,100 total units, with 20,133 of them in the United States.
Subway’s most recent franchise disclosure document reported revenue increased 10.3 percent to $971.9 million last year, with 40 percent of that growth coming from the company’s vendor funds that sell food ingredients and equipment to franchisees.