March 2, 2009

Industry Headlines

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Domino's partners with National Fire Protection Association to deliver fire safety message

With spring cleaning top of mind in March for millions of Americans, Domino's Pizza has announced its spring fire safety campaign to encourage customers to focus on the home for safety, especially in the kitchen. In participating markets across the country the company will deliver the message of cooking fire prevention on boxes on March 8, together with their partners at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA.)

"Domino's makes 1 million deliveries each day, so we reach a lot of people in their homes, where fire safety begins," said Domino's spokesperson Jenny Fouracre. "We are thrilled to continue the partnership with the NFPA and to be able to use our network of delivery experts to hopefully make homes across the country a little safer."

Daylight Saving, which starts March 8 this year, is a great time to change the battery on a home smoke alarm. An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms. As part of the spring campaign, customers who order from participating Domino's Pizza stores in March may be surprised when their delivery arrives aboard a fire engine. If all the smoke alarms in the home are working, the pizza is free. If a smoke alarm is not working, the firefighters will replace the batteries and/or smoke alarm and leave the home with a fully functioning fire safety device.

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza operates a network of 8,726 franchised and Company-owned stores in the United States and 60 international markets.

 
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Uno Chicago Grill opens Kuwait City restaurant 

On the heels of a recent opening at the Mall of Dubai, the world's largest mall, Uno Chicago Grill continues its expansion into the Middle East with the opening of its first unit in Kuwait.

With seating for 90, the new Uno launched with two nights of special events attended by local dignitaries before officially opening to the public. The restaurant is located in the Avenue Mall in Kuwait City, just across from an 8,000-square-foot children/family play area.

The Avenue Mall restaurant is one of several new openings in the area for Sofra LLC, the master licensee for Uno in the Middle East, which signed a 20-unit development deal covering nine countries: Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain.

The licensee for the new Kuwait City Uno is Sheikh Yousef Abdullah Sabah Al Nasser Al Sabah, a member of the ruling royal family, whose extensive history of successful business ventures promises to set the stage for another successful Uno franchise. Sheikh Yousef Abdullah Sabah Al Nasser Al Sabah said he chose to establish a partnership with Uno because he expects pizza to be a very popular signature menu offering. In addition, he was impressed by the success of the Middle East's first Uno location in Dubai, which set unit sales records.

Uno's lead chef and concept team have made menu and restaurant design changes to reflect the cultural and taste preferences of diners in each area. For example, pork dishes, as well as alcohol, have been removed from the menu, and Halal-certified meats are featured.

Uno Chicago Grill's expansion in Kuwait is part of a global pattern that goes against recent trends in the industry. Uno has recently extended international franchise development agreements in Korea and Honduras with existing franchise partners. Central and South America, the Caribbean and Mexico have numerous active candidates for franchises. And in the United States, franchises are also expanding with current franchisees signing development agreements to open restaurants over the next five years.

Based in Boston, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation includes more than 200 company-owned and franchised full-service units located in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Honduras, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.


 

Pizza Patron's gamble to hold prices pays off

Pizza Patron, the premier Latino pizza brand, has recently seen all-time sales records broken in many stores. Despite no increase in menu pricing, the chain saw comparable sales increase 7.9 percent in January which followed the chain's 3.29 percent gain for the fourth quarter of 2008.

In 2008, when commodity, fuel, rent and wage costs skyrocketed, Pizza Patron executives made a calculated decision to hold prices on their retail menus. Rather than pass on the extra costs to cash-strapped customers, an exhaustive evaluation of the business model was initiated to determine 'if' and 'where' operating costs could be lowered.

No stones were left unturned in the process which included negotiating new agreements with vendor partners, changing store designs to lower construction costs, and establishing new initiatives to control unnecessary waste inside each store.

"Tough business climates can create the best opportunities for success and growth," said Andrew Gamm, director of Brand Development for Pizza Patron. "Companies who thrive in challenging times aren't the ones who have somehow avoided adversity, they are the ones who are willing to look in the mirror and become stronger as a result."

Pizza Patron has been credited with creating the country's first chain of Latino-Hispano focused restaurants, where traditional American-style pizza is served in a distinctly Latin environment.

The company currently operates nearly 90 stores in six states and plans to have 750 stores nationwide within a decade

zpizza opens second international location with sales double system-wide average

zpizza opened its second international location in early February.  With an open location in Mexico, the new store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia marks the beginning of zpizza’s journey into the Middle East, where they have several locations planned in the near future.  Since it opened, the Riyadh store has seen sales double the system-wide average for zpizza.  zpizza currently has 90 open stores and continues its impressive expansion with 400 more locations in development across the U.S., the Middle East and Mexico.  The Southern California-based gourmet pizza chain was recently awarded the prestigious title of 2008 Pizza Chain of the Year from Pizza Market Quarterly Magazine.

This will be zpizza’s flagship location in Riyadh.  zpizza plans to open their second Riyadh location within the next month, which will be located in the food court of the Riyadh Galleria.
 
“Our early acceptance of our zpizza in Riyadh is very exciting,” says zpizza CEO, Chris Bright.  “We’ve borrowed so many ingredients and elements from the Middle East and other parts of the Mediterranean that we’re extremely pleased to see such a positive response.  I’m glad to see that our first unit is up and running and doing well.  We have a second unit coming within the next month and I’m looking forward to seeing two fully functioning well established restaurants when I visit Riyadh in April. This is our first Middle East effort and there is more to come!”
 
zpizza is based in California.

Round Table Pizza Introduces the Meatball Marvel

Round Table Pizza has introduced its newest pizza, the Meatball Marvel, which includes oven-roasted meatballs, seven premium cheeses, caramelized onions, garlic, and fire-roasted tomatoes are all wrapped in the loving embrace of a perfectly seasoned, hand-rolled crust.

"Seven cheeses is a milestone," says Director of Product Development Michele Hennessey. "We had to invent a new crust concept simply to carry the rich flavor of so many cheeses and meatballs. The crust wraps around the pizza, as if it can't help but hug all that meaty, cheesy goodness."

"Everybody loves meatballs. They remind us of time spent gathered in grandma's kitchen around a warm, home-cooked meal," notes Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Tinka Gordon. "The Meatball Marvel is a nod to those memories, but it also brings our guests a new way to enjoy this traditional favorite. No longer left to sink to the bottom of a pasta pot, the meatball now shines atop the familiar flavors of garlic, parmesan and zesty red sauce. We hope our guests will find comfort in this hardy, abundant pizza during these challenging times."

The Meatball Marvel pizza and sandwich are available for a limited-time at participating Round Table Pizza restaurants.

Founded in Menlo Park, CA in 1959, Round Table Pizza has a system of approximately 500 franchised and company-owned stores operating in the western U.S. with system revenues in excess of $400 million.