Frederick Adrian “Fred” DeLuca (October 3, 1947 – September 14, 2015) was an American businessman, best known as the co-founder of the Subway franchise of sandwich shops.
Fred DeLuca was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 3, 1947 to Italian American parents Carmela and Salvatore DeLuca. At the age of 10, DeLuca moved to Amsterdam, New York, where he and his family became friends with Peter Buck. Once in his teens, he moved with his family to Bridgeport, Connecticut. After succeeding in his business, DeLuca realized his dream to go to college and graduated from the University of Bridgeport.
DeLuca was a 1965 graduate of Central High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
In 1965, 17-year-old DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from family friend Dr. Peter Buck. This was after Buck suggested the idea to help DeLuca make money for college to study medicine. DeLuca’s plan was to begin a “fast-food venture that provided a healthful, less fattening bill of fare”. On the radio advertisement they had promoted the name as “Pete’s Submarines,” which sounded like Pizza Marines, so they changed the name to “Pete’s Subway.” Eventually in 1968, it was shortened to “Subway” as it is known today.
The first shop opened on August 28, 1965 at a mediocre location in the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first year of business was a learning experience and a challenge. A year later they opened their second location, having realized that visibility and marketing were key factors to success. DeLuca believed that the biggest mistake he made was where he set up his very first shop as it was a “crummy location.” The third outlet was in a highly visible location and that location is still there today.
In 1978, Subway’s 100th store opened, and reached the 1,000 store mark in 1987. Explosive growth continued with Subway opening 1,100 units in 1993 alone. By comparison, McDonald’s opened 800 that same year.
As of June 2013, the company counts 39,500 franchised locations worldwide and produces US $9.05 billion sales every year. In 2007, Forbes magazine named DeLuca number 242 of the 400 richest Americans with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Today, Subway is one of the most popular chain food vendors.
DeLuca and Peter Buck also partnered to create Franchise Brands in an effort to assist other entrepreneurs in replicating their success in the franchise industry.
DeLuca had homes in Milford, Connecticut and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and lived with his wife Elisabeth. His son, Jonathan, lives in Boca Raton, FL.
On July 15, 2013, DeLuca announced that he was being treated for leukemia. He died on September 14, 2015 at Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.
At the graduation commencement in 2002, DeLuca received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from his alma mater, the University of Bridgeport.
1. Profit or perish… There are only two ways to make money: increase sales and decrease costs.
2. You could have everything right but be in the wrong place. You think your business is no good, but really, the problem is your place is no good.
3. After 39 years of business, I’m still learning. I go through this every year -identifying new strategies that are extremely important.
4. Even if you set a long-term goal, that doesn’t mean it’s a straight-line journey. Often, there are problems and obstacles along the way.
5. I don’t have much of a bucket list. I don’t have a lot of needs and desires.
6. If you have company-owned stores, you make 100 percent of the profit from each one, but you have less entrepreneurial spirit.
7. If you treat people nicely, and you allow them to fulfill a role that is satisfying for them, they’ll accomplish a lot, and they’ll enjoy their work.
8. It’s tough for people to get into business, especially a small business.
9. There are so many ingredients that are approved for use. You can’t be an expert on all of them.
10. Everybody who goes through the business will make mistakes. The big question is how big will the mistakes be? How fast will they learn from the mistakes, and how quickly will they get the business in the correct direction?
image and biography credit: Wikipedia.
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