DENVER - Quiznos has begun an aggressive expansion into gasoline stations and convenience stores, The Wall Street Journal reports. Other quickservice restaurants with a presence in convenience stores include McDonald??s, Taco Bell and Subway.

With restaurant visits falling 3 percent in 2009, trips to convenience stores for food purchases have been climbing 1 percent year-over-year since 2007, according to the NPD Group. Quiznos is hoping to cash in on that trend by signing up convenience stores at the same rate it launches traditional stores over the next few years.

"A lot of people are working two jobs in this economy and are busier and busier, and convenience is becoming more and more important," said Quiznos Chief Executive Rick Schaden.

In 2009, the chain started adding smaller sizes of its restaurants inside Circle K, Chevron and BP stores, ending the year with 175 such locations. Next year, Quiznos will double that number, and double it again by end of 2012, to reach a total of around 700 mini-restaurants. Concurrently, the chain will open around the same number of new traditional Quiznos restaurants.

The convenience stores become Quiznos franchisees. Expanding more into the convenience store market will allow Quiznos to find new customers "in places that normally wouldn??t support a traditional Quiznos, like service plazas, truck stops and urban areas," said Schaden.

Quiznos convenience store locations bring in nearly twice the sales per square foot of its regular restaurants. Beginning this month, Quiznos will launch its breakfast line at convenience store locations.