Subway passes McDonald's in U.S.

MILFORD, CONNECTICUTT - There are now more places in this country to buy a B.M.T. than a Big Mac. <br> <br> Subway Restaurants, the privately held chain of sandwich shops, has eclipsed McDonald&#39;s as the largest restaurant chain in the country. <br> <br> The Milford-based chain operates 13,247 stores in the United States, 148 more than McDonald&#39;s as of Dec. 31. Subway, started by Fred DeLuca in 1965, opened 904 units last year, while McDonald&#39;s opened 295. <br> <br> ``We knew that we were getting close to McDonald&#39;s, but we had to wait until McDonald&#39;s released its information,&#39;&#39; said Les Winograd, a Subway spokesman. <br> <br> The numbers include satellite locations - shops at gas stations, schools, sports arenas and other smaller outlets. <br> <br> Winograd said Subway usually doesn&#39;t include the satellites in the count, but wanted to make sure its numbers were comparable to fourth-quarter figures reported by McDonald&#39;s, which included satellites. <br> <br> McDonald&#39;s spokeswoman Anna Rozenich declined to comment on the number of stores, but did point out that in 2001, systemwide sales rose to $40.63 billion from $40.18 billion. <br> <br> McDonald&#39;s still far outsells Subway and surpasses the sandwich shop in global presence. The fact that there are more Subway restaurants in the United States may be a boost in visibility, but does not add up to huge financial gains, said Mark Kalinowski, a fast food analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. <br> <br> ``If you have a person walking down the street or driving along in their car, they&#39;ll see more Subways. It&#39;s a convenience factor to have a lot of units open. But ultimately, from a financial perspective, it&#39;s not that big of a deal,&#39;&#39; Kalinowski said.