For the longest time, it’s become somewhat of an acceptable fact that restaurants and exciting F&B chains would often opt for a South Jakarta location for their debut (looking at you, Taco Bell). But the tables might be turning now with arguably the country’s most anticipated fast food chain being first sighted in BSD, Tangerang.
A clip showing a construction site banner covering a space at the popular The Breeze outdoor mall made its rounds on social media over the weekend, after it attracted considerable attention from Indonesians for the banner’s unmistakably Subway shade of green and the yellow-white “coming soon” text adorned.
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The video, which appears to have been initially recorded as an Instagram story by a visitor to the mall, mentioned Subway Indonesia and local community page BSD Update, the latter of which reposted the footage.
A photo of a construction permit for the site also went viral, showing that the space was indeed being leased by Subway.
The reposted video on BSD Update’s page saw netizens expressing their joy and excitement on the comment section, especially as residents of the suburban neighborhood located on the outskirts of Jakarta took this as a sign that they can finally one-up those in the capital in the perpetual race of F&B hype. Small victories, right?
That said, BSD residents do run the risk of celebrating too early as Subway Indonesia has yet to confirm if the store at The Breeze would be the first in its expansion into the country.
After Indonesians were fooled and disappointed by an elaborate social media prank, Subway officially confirmed its imminent return to Indonesia late last month after signing an agreement with PT Sari Sandwich Indonesia — a subsidiary of lifestyle retailer Mitra Adiperkasa’s F&B wing PT Map Boga Adiperkasa.
The American sandwich chain is slated for launch by the end of this year, starting with locations in the Greater Jakarta area.
Subway is actually no stranger to Indonesia, having served the country their world-famous subs from the ‘90s to the mid-2000s. Since they left the country, the closest locations Indonesians can reach to fill the Subway-shaped hole in their tummies are Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand (though we doubt Subway is the primary reason for anyone to visit these countries).
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