Firehouse Subs opened its first restaurant in Europe on June 22 and announced plans to expand to Mexico.
The sandwich chain founded in Jacksonville almost 30 years ago had 1,247 restaurants at the end of the first quarter, mostly in the U.S. with 73 in Canada.
However, Restaurant Brands International Inc., which acquired the Jacksonville-based company in December 2021, announced the opening of a restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland, as the beginning of a global expansion of the Firehouse brand.
“Sandwiches represent one of the top food occasions for consumers across markets. With its truly differentiated product offering and strong brand heritage, we are confident that Firehouse Subs can achieve tremendous growth internationally,” RBI’s international President David Shear said in a news release.
RBI also announced a development agreement to open the first Firehouse restaurants in Mexico later this year and said it has plans to expand into other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Toronto-based RBI also owns the Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons chains, which have a significant presence outside of North America.
The company reported 11,947 of its 18,911 Burger King restaurants at the end of the first quarter were outside of the U.S.
Popeyes had 1,231 of its 4,178 restaurants outside of the U.S.
A majority of the 5,620 Tim Hortons restaurants are in Canada.
RBI bought Firehouse, founded in 1994 in Jacksonville by brothers and former firefighters Robin and Chris Sorensen, for $1 billion in December 2021.
The company said Firehouse’s international expansion will benefit from the scale and growth capabilities of RBI.
RBI said the international Firehouse sites will adjust menus and guest experiences based on its research of the local markets.