Subway is making it harder for franchisees to close restaurants while requiring stores to stay open longer each week as the sandwich chain works to slow the loss of U.S. locations.

Starting this month, franchisees seeking to shut down a location must have the closure reviewed by a company committee, according to a message from Subway development executive Mary Greenlee reviewed by news outlet Restaurant Business.

The company is also reminding franchisees that closing a restaurant early may not necessarily end their financial obligations. Operators could still be responsible for future royalty and marketing payments through the end of their franchise agreements, a policy that some franchisees viewed as a warning or threat, according to the outlet.

“A single closure looks small,” Greenlee wrote. “Several hundred of them reset the economics of the entire system, and the franchisees who stay and invest are the ones who pay for it.”

The additional review process comes as Subway prepares to launch a major push to boost late-night sales on August 16, with longer hours and expanded delivery availability designed to appeal to more late-night customers.

Under the new rules, Subway restaurants will need to be open 98 hours a week, up from the previous requirement of 91 hours. Franchisees will also have to accept third-party delivery orders - such as GrubHub - and keep those delivery services available for most of their operating hours, Restaurant Business reports, citing a system message from Subway’s President of North America operations Damien Harmon.

The Independent has contacted Subway for comment.

The latest changes come as Subway continues to shrink its U.S. footprint. The chain has closed 3,417 U.S. restaurants since 2021, including 729 in 2025, leaving it with 18,773 locations at the end of last year, according to Restaurant Dive. The chain has been steadily shrinking for more than a decade after peaking at about 27,000 U.S. locations in 2014.

The closures come amid growing pressure on Subway franchisees, who are dealing with relatively low sales, rising costs and slim profits. Some operators have even filed for bankruptcy, including 43-unit MTF Enterprises, which filed for Chapter 11 earlier this year.

Since mid-2022, Subway has also been shifting its strategy toward larger, well-resourced franchisees capable of operating multiple locations.

Subway’s corporate profits, meanwhile, jumped in 2025 despite the shrinking store base. Net income rose to $688 million, up from $397 million in 2024, while total franchise revenue fell more than 6 percent to $767 million as royalty revenue declined.

Subway’s profit surge was largely driven by cost-cutting, bringing some outsourced operations in-house and higher revenue from vendor rebates, rather than stronger sales at its restaurants, according to Restaurant Business.