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Big Apple Bagels co-brands with Subway in breakfast push

OSWEGO Ill. The franchisor of Big Apple Bagels said a franchised Big Apple Bagels Xpress unit has opened inside a new Subway store in this suburb of Chicago. The bagel station will be positioned as a breakfast option, with a morning menu of bagel sandwiches, muffins and coffee, said Leslie Walters, a spokeswoman for the Big Apple brand’s parent, BAB Inc.

"Our goal is to do 80 percent of our business by 11 a.m.," said Walters, adding that some items sell well all day. BAB franchises 126 stores in 27 states and has seven more in development.

Asecond Oswego Subway also is being outfitted with the Xpress outlet. Both of the co-branded Oswego sites were franchised to Wasson Enterprises Inc., which operates five other Subways.

The only other Xpress unit currently in operation is located on the campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. That store is licensed to Chartwells, a division of contract-foodservice giant Compass Group.

Doctors Associates Inc., Subway's franchisor, has designated breakfast as a new initiative of the chain. Several thousand units, including the Oswego store hosting the Xpress outlet, serve omelet sandwiches made with the sandwich chain's signature fresh-baked bread.

ASubway spokesman said the pairing of the Oswego stores with outlets of Big Apple Bagels Xpress does not signal any formal collaboration between the brands' parent companies. He noted that Subway franchisees are not restricted from making their own co-branding deals.

Milford, Conn.-based Subway has more than 28,000 units worldwide.

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