The most franchised company in the world isn't McDonald's or Starbucks

Despite the seeming ubiquity of McDonald's golden arches and the Starbucks mermaid, the sandwich chain Subway actually has the most locations of any restaurant worldwide, about 43,000 in 2017. This number, however, belies the economic reality: while McDonald's and Starbucks continue to grow their profits, Subway's have been slipping since 2014. Industry analysts point to a few reasons for this, including a lack of innovation and fraught relationships with franchise owners.