Last Updated on September 25, 2026 by Craig Allen Keefner
Cousins Subs is one of those regional restaurant brands that has stayed relevant by having a clear identity. Wisconsin-based, founded in 1972, and known for deli-fresh and grilled subs on bread baked daily, it operates more than 90 locations across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.
Excerpt from case study — The player migration took just 9 days and was completed entirely remotely. By the end of April, all 340 players were live, driving the digital menu boards in every Cousins Subs location, [all ~95 stores], with each board showing pricing specific to its store.
The chain has been working with Nanonation on digital menu boards and restaurant signage. That is not particularly exotic by itself anymore. Most serious QSR and fast-casual operators are somewhere on the digital-menu journey. But the interesting part is the competitive context.
Cousins is not competing in a vacuum. In its core Midwest territory, it runs into the usual large sandwich suspects:
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Subway
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Jimmy John’s
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Jersey Mike’s
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Firehouse Subs
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Potbelly
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Panera and other fast-casual lunch alternatives
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A very large number of independent delis, local sandwich shops, convenience stores, grocery prepared-food counters, and delivery-first concepts
Historically, Subway, Jimmy John’s, Firehouse Subs, and Jersey Mike’s have all been identified as direct competitive pressure for Cousins, including in Wisconsin, its primary market.archive.jsonline
That makes the digital menu-board question more important than it first appears.
A good digital menu network is not simply a nicer-looking replacement for static menu panels. It gives the operator flexibility to update pricing, promote limited-time offers, feature premium subs or bundles, change content by daypart, and keep marketing consistent across a multi-store footprint. Nanonation has long positioned its platform around centrally managed digital menu boards, kiosks, drive-thru displays, and restaurant content management.
For a sandwich chain, the menu board is one of the last and best chances to influence the order. Add fries. Add a drink. Try the premium protein. Promote a combo. Show the product rather than just listing it in type.
That matters even more when consumers can get a sandwich from almost anywhere.
The larger takeaway is that digital menu boards, drive-thru displays, and self-order kiosks are increasingly parts of the same operating system. The objective is not “put screens in the restaurant.” It is to manage menus, promotions, pricing, upsells, and brand presentation in a coordinated way—whether the customer is at the counter, in the drive-thru, or ordering from a kiosk.
Nanonation now describes its restaurant platform as covering indoor digital boards, outdoor drive-thru displays, and self-service kiosks, with POS integration, content design, and support included in the overall proposition.nanonation
For Cousins Subs, a Midwest brand competing with much larger national systems, sharper and more flexible customer-facing technology is one way to protect the brand experience while making each location easier to operate.
