April 27, 2009
Industry Headlines
Papa John's International, Inc. has announced the appointment of Joseph Jude Thompson as president and chief operating officer. Thompson will continue on the Papa John's Board of Directors where he has served since February 2008, and in his new role will report to Founder and Chairman John Schnatter, who at the Board's request will continue as Chief Executive Officer, a role he returned to on an interim basis in December 2008.
"I am excited that Jude has accepted the offer to join our management team," commented Schnatter. "Jude has been an invaluable asset to the entire Papa John's system as he helped me lead the company during the last 120-day transition period. I look forward to continuing our partnership together."
In December, the company's Board of Directors formed a committee led by director William M. Street to undertake a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer. During the search process, Mr. Thompson served as the Board's liaison to the Papa John's management team, working closely with Mr. Schnatter and other members of Papa John's leadership team.
"We evaluated many talented candidates during the search process," commented Street. "At the end of the day, the committee concluded that Mr. Thompson would make an outstanding addition to the management team. This appointment positions us well from a succession standpoint, as Mr. Schnatter focuses on Research & Development/QA and sourcing quality ingredients while Mr. Thompson focuses on all other aspects of the day-to-day running of the business."
From 2006 to 2008, Thompson served as Senior Vice President of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), and President, Individual Business, of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In this position, Mr. Thompson was responsible for all aspects of the company's Individual Business unit in the 14 states served by WellPoint, which generated $5+ billion in revenue in 2007. Prior to that, Thompson held positions of increasing responsibility with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a division of WellPoint, or its affiliates since 1989.
"I am excited to join the Papa John's management team," commented Thompson. "We have a very talented group of franchise and corporate operators throughout the world who do an outstanding job delivering on our 'Better Ingredients. Better Pizza' brand promise to customers, every day. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary and embark on our next 25 years, I look forward to working with our Founder and the entire system to keep this wonderful brand moving forward."
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's is the world's third largest pizza company.
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This Mother's Day, Uno Chicago Grill is offering its new New Orleans-inspired menu, activities and goodies for kids, and a memento for Mom all make Uno. From May 5 through May 10, participating Uno locations will be distributing a Mother's Day activity page and crayons to young guests. The coloring activity sheet incorporates a coupon for a free kid's Make Your Own Pizza on their next visit. Each child can draw a picture and give their artistic creations to their mother as a special, personalized token of their appreciation.
On Mother's Day, May 10, each participating location will offer to take digital photos of the family. Families simply need to give their name and mailing address to the photographer, and a keepsake photo of this time-honored day will be mailed to them within a few weeks.
Based in Boston, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation includes more than 200 company-owned and franchised full-service Uno Chicago Grill units located in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Honduras, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 are getting the dough ready for a special fundraiser and promotional recipe that will benefit children's hospitals across Canada. The Slices for Smiles campaign, which runs from April 27 to May 3 in more than 430 participating Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 locations, is expected to play a significant part in raising more than $100,000 for the Slices for Smiles Foundation this year, which in turn will donate the funds to Children's Miracle Network.
For one week, customers can enjoy hot and freshly made pizza at a discounted price with a percentage of the proceeds going directly to the Slices for Smiles Foundation. This is the first time Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 have offered the program to customers in western Canada.
Pizza Pizza locations, in addition to providing value menu offerings, will also be employing several other fundraising channels, including donation options for online and call centre orders, the sale of Children's Miracle Network balloons in-store with bounce back offers to consumers and coin donation boxes. Children's Miracle Network is confident Canadians will show a healthy and generous appetite for the campaign's deals and the ease with which they can give back to their local children's hospital.
As part of the week-long event, all traditional Pizza Pizza restaurants in Canada will offer cheese slices to consumers for $1.75, and medium cheese or pepperoni pizzas to walk-in customers for $5. Twenty-five cents from the sale of each slice and 50 cents from the sale of each medium pizza will be donated to Children's Miracle Network through the Slices for Smiles Foundation. Customers looking to purchase four or more medium pizzas can pre-order through the call centre for pick-up.
In western Canada, Pizza 73 customers will have the opportunity to purchase 9-inch pepperoni pizzas for a special walk-in price of $4.99, with 50 cents of each sale going toward the campaign along with the option to add a donation to online orders.
The monies raised will go toward providing state-of-the-art care, purchasing specialized equipment, supporting preventative education programs and pediatric research for Children's Miracle Network member hospitals in Canada.
The Slices for Smiles Foundation has raised more than $200,000 for children's charities since Pizza Pizza first introduced the program in October 2007.
Founded in 1967, Pizza Pizza is an industry pioneer and Canada's number one pizza chain. With the 2007 acquisition of Pizza 73, a leader in western Canada since 1985, Pizza Pizza operates more than 600 traditional and
non-traditional restaurants coast to coast.
Pizza Resources Corporation, a franchisee of Monical’s Pizza, has announced the opening of its 14th Monical's Pizza location.
While many companies are delaying expansion or closing locations, Monical’s Pizza is experiencing the largest growth in the past 10 years. In 2008 three Indianapolis, Indiana locations, with future plans to open more.
Opening in May 2009, the Greencastle, Indiana will be the 14th location added to the Pizza Resources Corp. franchise. Owners of this location will be Bill and Jenny Bradshaw from Danville, Indiana.
Monical’s Pizza Corporation, founded in 1959, operates 64 corporate and franchise Monical’s Pizza restaurants operating in three states: Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Once a family fixture with six locations in Nevada, Shakey's Pizza, is returning to the Silver State with five restaurants scheduled to open over the next five years, the first of which is slated for Las Vegas January 2010. Spearheading Shakey's Southwest expansion is long-time Las Vegas-based contractor and developer Larry Monkarsh, who grew up with the brand and understands its multi-generational appeal and cultural significance.
The brand's expansion into the Southwest is indicative of Shakey's newfound brand renaissance. The iconic pizza parlor has reemerged from a nostalgic memory to a successful restaurant chain experiencing exponential growth - even during the economic downturn. While it's been 30 years since Shakey's reached its peak in popularity, the legendary American brand has undergone a system-wide makeover - complete with fresh new menu items as well as new and remodeled restaurants - and is quickly becoming a recognized leader in the family fast casual category.
Originally conceived in the 50's as a destination in which friends and families could gather for hot pizza, cold beer and sing-along ragtime music, the new stores will embrace the original concept with a modern spin - including arcade games, big screen TV's, classic American music and familiar pop-culture memorabilia. The restaurant design will feature Shakey's traditional long tables to accommodate larger parties and community dining as well as intimate booths for smaller groups and families. All restaurants will have an open-kitchen, complete with "dough making theater," as well as offer a refreshed menu featuring classic favorites such as Shakey's original thin crust pizza, crispy fried chicken and famous Mojo potatoes, along with exciting new gourmet pizzas including Texas BBQ Chicken, Rustic Garlic Chicken, a light and fresh Margherita variety and The Firehouse, a meat-lover's pizza with an extra kick.
Shakey's USA, Inc is headquartered in Alhambra, California.
Papa Murphy’s International has announced the expansion of its Research and Development Department with the appointment of Carron Harris to vice president of product development.
“Carron’s focus will be to insure continued excellence in Papa Murphy’s current and future products,” said Clarice Turner, president and COO at Papa Murphy’s. “She will also help charter the brand’s product development roadmap to bring even more variety of high-quality take ‘n’ bake options designed to appeal to all of our customer segments.”
Harris brings a blend of product development history combined with in-store operational experience and capability. Most recently she held the position of vice president of food and beverage at Minneapolis, Minn.-based Buca di Beppo. Carron joined the company in 1998 as chef partner. In 2006 she was recognized by Restaurants and Institutions magazine as a "Chef to Watch." Prior to Buca, Carron held multiple restaurant management and chef positions.
Papa Murphy's is the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country and the pioneer and leader of the take 'n' bake pizza segment. Papa Murphy's operates over 1,100 franchised and corporate-owned locations in 32 states and Canada.
Marco’s Pizza (Marco’s Franchising, LLC), headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, opened its first store in California on April 24, 2009. The authentic Italian pizza company now operates in 17 states.
Nidhi and Deepak Gupta, Marco’s area representatives for Northern California and residents of Pleasanton, own and operate the store. The Guptas plan to open a total of 36 Marco's locations in the East Bay, North Bay and Central Valley areas. Marco’s Pizza stores employ 20 to 25 local residents each, which means significant employment opportunities for these areas in the long term.
Marco’s Pizza operates more than 180 stores in 17 states and has more than 700 new stores signed. The companyw as founded in 1978.
PizzaVito has announced a series of franchise development deals which have cleared the way for the pizzeria chain’s expansion into Georgia and Florida. The first PizzaVito, opened in January 2009, is located adjacent to the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida.
The most recent franchise development agreements include new locations in Ocala, Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville, as well as throughout the 28-county, metro-Atlanta area.
IKAS Holdings, Inc. inked a five-store development deal with PizzaVito, and is projected to open their first location in Ocala, Florida, in June, with plans to open two other locations in the Tampa area by December. In addition, an agreement has been reached with JEMICO, LLC, for a five-store area development deal in the Miami area. Additionally, private investors Adrian Burrell and Russell F. Wesley also signed a 10-store area development deal for Jacksonville.
PizzaVito is also expected to open their first store in metro-Atlanta by June 2009 as part of a 10 store development deal with The Titan Agency.
The company is set to begin development on PizzaVito University located in Gainesville. PizzaVito U will be the official training facility for franchisees, executives and associate members of the PizzaVito family.
“We are very excited about the development of PizzaVito™ U,” said Joe DiBartolo, CEO and co-founder of PizzaVito. “This center will allow us to train our franchisees to deliver a real New York pizzeria experience. The opening of PizzaVito™ University will mark another milestone in the family business, and we are excited to be able to continue offering customers the unique pizza taste of the Big Apple.”
PizzaVito is a franchise restaurant concept that captures the combination of great pizza served in a New York-style neighborhood pizzeria. For more than forty years Vito DiBartolo, namesake and co-founder of PizzaVito, has been bringing real New York pizza to people everywhere. From his first pizzeria in Queens in 1966 to his wildly successful pizzerias all over New York and throughout the South, people love his authentic pizza everywhere he goes. Vito attributes his pizza’s authenticity to the freshest ingredients and age-old family recipes.