WATERTOWN, MA— Of approximately 300 Subway franchises in Central and Northern Massachusetts, about 70 percent of are owned by Indian-Americans.
Ranganarayan Narasimhan, who with his wife Nehal Patel, owns and operates seven Subway franchises in the area, said most of the Subway franchise owners are with the last name Patel.
The husband-and-wife team of Narasimhan and Patel have become one of the of the area’s largest Subway franchise owners. They own Subways in Waltham, Newton, Watertown, Boston, Avon, Hyde Park and Dedham in Massachusetts.
“We are adding two more Subways this year,” Narasimhan told INDIA New England News.
How did Narasimhan get into franchise business? “This used to be my wife’s full-time job. She is the one who brought it up.”
As the franchise business grew, Narasimhan, who used to work for Kerug Coffee, quit his job and joined his wife to run the growing franchise empire. His group now employs about a dozen full-time employees, 20-parttime, two managers and four supervisors.
Narasimhan said that there are approximately 300 Subway franchises in Central and Northern Massachusetts and 70 percent of them are owned by Indians, especially with the last name Patel.
“It is a fun business. Obviously, we have to keep up with our competition (other restaurants) in our neighrhood,” Narasimhan said. “Rising hourly wage is a big challenge for us.”
He said he is planning to explore the possibility of providing healthy Subway food with Indian flavors to Indian clientele, especially for catering for office and home parties.
