Subway unveils two units at Oakland Coliseum

Nation's Restaurant News, April 29, 1991 by Bill Carlino

Subway unveils two units at Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND, Calif. -- In an ongoing effort to branch into non-traditional markets, Subway Sandwiches & Salads has opened two scaled-down units at the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics major-league baseball team.

Offering four varieties of sandwiches at a price of $4.25 -- about $1 more than what other Bay-area Subway units charge -- the Coliseum outlets are operated by a Subway franchisee under a five-year sub-contract agreement with Canteen Corp.'s Volume Services, the stadium's principal concessionaire.

The chain's sandwiches are also vended in the stands.

Owing to space limitations, Subway's trademark policy of baking bread on premises was waived at the Coliseum, said Deep Dhindsa, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Subway senior development agent who owns the stadium units. Instead, the bread is baked off-site and shipped to the Coliseum on game days.

"This team draws about 3 million fans a year," explained Dhindsa, who also oversees 54 Subway franchises in the area. "Name brand operators are making a push into major-league baseball, and we saw an opportunity here."

A host of national quick-service chains, including Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, TCBY, Carl's Jr, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and McDonald's have opened units in major-league ballparks.

Subway also revealed plans to construct a food court in the centerfield concession stands and open a commissary beneath the Oakland stadium. The food court will include Round Table Pizza, a nationally branded ice-cream chain, a dim-sum Chinese concept and a specialty coffee bar.

The Coliseum is the second recreational foodservice account for the 5,000-unit Subway chain, which is based in Milford, Conn.

Last year Subway opened an outlet at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the home arena for UNLV's Runnin' Rebels basketball team.

Dhindsa noted the idea for the Subway-Coliseum partnership came after he discovered a Las Vegas-based Subway franchise group had signed the contract at Thomas & Mack Center.