Fans of Subway footlongs are surprised this week after the sandwich chain announced the closure of hundreds of restaurants all over the U.S.

Subway will reportedly be shutting down 500 locations due to the “intense competition” in the sandwich industry. The chain has decided to prioritize having nicer restaurants even if it means having fewer of them.

“We want to be sure that we have the best location,” said Subway Restaurants CEO Suzanne Greco. “Store count isn’t everything.”

This comes as other chains such as McDonald’s and Panera Bread have made changes that have made them bigger competition for Subway. However, while Subway will be closing locations in the U.S., they will also be opening more restaurants in other parts of North America as they try to become the top lunch spot on the market.

With 26,000 locations in this country, Subway has more restaurants by store count than any other in the U.S., with McDonald’s coming in a distant second with 14,000 locations.

“Looking out over the next decade, we anticipate having a slightly smaller, but more profitable footprint in North America and a significantly larger footprint in the rest of the world,” a spokesman said in a statement. “Subway restaurants are 100% Franchisee owned and operated, and our commitment to the Franchisees is to work with them to make each restaurant more successful.”

“In North America we are implementing an aggressive revitalization plan, which we expect to result in the closing, consolidation or relocation of a few hundred locations in 2018,” the spokesman added.

We applaud Subway for prioritizing quality over quantity! SHARE this story if you are a fan of Subway.