Subway Restaurants is celebrating another milestone in its global expansion-passing the 900th international restaurant mark. Currently there are 903 Subway’s in 73 countries outside the United States and Canada.

Franchisees Tony & Blaga Nokolovski of Ingle Farm, South Australia, are credited with opening the 900th international restaurant on March 29 in the Ingle Farm Shopping Center, which is in a suburb of Adelaide. “We are very proud to have opened the 900th international restaurant,” say the Nokolovskis. Development Agent for South Australia, Martin Koehne, says, “This is the second milestone for South Australia, having opened the 14,000th Subway restaurant worldwide at Mount Gambier in late 1999.”

The Nokolovskis bring a wealth of experience in fast-food restaurants that will benefit the whole Subway group in South Australia, according to Koehne. They are already planning to open another restaurant for early next year. The restaurant is located in a food court within a large shopping center that is open seven days a week. Australia continues to experience steady growth, growing to 255 restaurants in 12 years.

From the first venture outside North America, in Bahrain in 1984, to its most recent opening in the Netherlands in March 2000, the Subway franchise chain continues to look toward international development opportunities. “We are steadily moving toward our goal of having 2,000 restaurants in countries outside the United States and Canada by the year 2005,” says Pat Demarais, director of international operations. “Actually, we are ahead of schedule, which is very encouraging.”

In January 2000, Subway became the first U.S. quick-serve food chain in Tanzania, opening in the capitol city of Dar es Salaam. Other openings are expected this year in Poland, Finland, India, Bangladesh and Croatia. Don Fertman, director of franchise sales for Subway, says, “We’re already the largest U.S. franchise in several countries, including Canada, and we look forward to continuing this trend across the globe.”