Arch rivals: Subway to surpass McDonald's in number of restaurants

It's hard to imagine a cultural icon with greater ubiquity than McDonald's (MCD). After all, it seems the Golden Arches are present in every town, no matter how small, and at every exit off an interstate highway. But while you'll never have trouble finding a Big Mac, change is on the horizon: The sandwich shop Subway is close to exceeding the number of McDonald's restaurants worldwide.

When exactly will Subway overtake MickyD's? "My guess is it's going to be before the end of the year," says Tony Pace, chief marketing officer of the Subway Franchise Advertising Fund Trust. He says consumers are always surprised to learn that Subway has more than 32,000 outlets. "We're not as visible as McDonald's because we can put a Subway restaurant into a relatively small footprint. We can be in a strip mall and don't need to be a big stand-alone restaurant."