June 1, 2009

Industry Headlines 

Papa John's founder embarks on national road trip in search of Camaro he sold to open first location

Twenty-five years ago, “Papa” John Schnatter sold his beloved ’72 Z28 Camaro to fund his other passion: delivering a superior-quality pizza to the residents of his hometown.

That commitment to “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” can be seen and felt every day in all 3,400 Papa John’s restaurants worldwide. The ’72 Z28 Camaro? Well, that’s a different story. It hasn’t been seen since 1984. So Schnatter is offering a $25,000 reward for the person who can point him in the direction of the car that started it all.
To spread the word, Schnatter is embarking on a nationwide road trip in a replica ’72 Z28 Camaro, very similar to the one he sold in 1984. Along the way, he’ll be making personal pizza deliveries and sharing his American Dream story with his thousands of loyal customers and team members. Kicking off at Papa John’s Louisville global headquarters today, road trip stops will include Atlanta, Houston, New York, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Denver.

“After 25 years . . . it’s still about the pizza. Papa John’s has experienced terrific growth in every respect over the past 25 years, but the success of the brand today is rooted in the principles we first established upon launching this company in 1984 – quality pizza, terrific service and a personal relationship with the customers,” said Schnatter, Papa John’s founder and CEO. “Hitting the road to mark the 25th anniversary of the company helps to strengthen that commitment, learn more from our customers in all corners of the country, and remind all of us there is no substitute for hard work, faith, and an insistence on delivering the very best pizza and service in the industry.”

Chronicling the journey will be two intern sidekicks who will log Schnatter’s road trip adventures online at www.papasroadtrip.com via an array of photos, videos, blogs and tweets. Also at www.papasroadtrip.com, Schnatter and the sidekicks will release clues about Schnatter’s original ’72 Z28 Camaro in the hopes that someone will reveal the car’s whereabouts.

That twenty-five-year history of Papa John’s has included a number of milestones. In 1995, Papa John’s opened its 1,000th store. It only took seven more years to reach 3,000 and in 1998, Papa John’s opened its first restaurant outside North America. Now, Papa John’s has restaurants in six continents and 29 countries.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. is the world's third largest pizza company.

Billionaire Mark Cuban Finalizes Investment with NAKEDpizza

New Orleans-based NAKEDpizza has announced that it has finalized its three-months long negotiation with Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and Chairman of HDnet Television.

As part of the agreement, Cuban has been awarded area developer rights to the entire State of Texas. Though the total number of stores to be opened in the state by Cuban has not been disclosed, NAKEDpizza co-founder Randy
Crochet indicates "that Texas represents a great opportunity for our brand and the market will support between 50 and 75 units."

In addition to securing the development rights to the State of Texas, Cuban also owns an equity stake in NAKEDpizza's parent company, WHP Holding LLC, and its soon to be launched franchising division.

NAKEDpizza is actively seeking a select group of area fevelopers in the U.S. to open initial units as part of "founding cluster" of partners in late 2009.

NAKEDpizza (NP) is a carry out and delivery concept based on a healthy pizza offering. NP has developed and offers the world's first multi-grain pizza crust fortified with heat resistant probiotics and prebiotics. The larger social mission of NP is grounded in a belief that pizza can be part of a healthy lifestyle and that pizza and the industry can be part of the solution rather than the problem in our national health crisis. NP seeks to change not only how pizza is created and sold to consumers, but also create the nations first pizza chain that embraces social media as the primary marketing strategy.

Extreme Pizza expands territory into Ireland

San Francisco-based Extreme Pizza has announced that it has finalized a deal for a new Dublin, Ireland store location. With a grand opening set for the fall of 2009, Extreme Pizza gears up to bring its core philosophy “Extreme. Not mainstream.” Overseas, along with its fresh ideas about how pizza should be experienced.
 
“Expanding our international presence is the natural progression for Extreme Pizza because demand for our high quality food and unique Western restaurant experience has grown considerably,” says Jim Ryan, SVP of Extreme Pizza. “International entrepreneurs are constantly looking to introduce new concepts in their marketplace and our business model is a successful way to do that.”
 
Extreme Pizza currently has 40 locations in the United States, as well as an already established location in Kilkenny, Ireland.
 
Founded in 1994, the company boasts 9 corporate locations and 32 nationwide franchises, as well as international.

Marco’s brings back Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza

Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza, a popular limited-time offer from Marco’s Pizza (Marco’s Franchising, LLC), will return to stores nationwide on June 1. Pepperoni Magnifico features a delightful combination of old-world pepperonis and Marco’s classic pepperonis with Italian seasoning.

“Marco’s debuted Pepperoni Magnifico Pizza last September and customers loved it, so we had to bring it back,” said Jack Butorac, CEO of Marco’s Pizza. “Pepperoni has been Marco’s best-selling topping for years, so we anticipated that the demand for a pizza with our Italian sense of proportion and quality, two types of pepperonis and seasoning, would be high. We’re thrilled to bring Pepperoni Magnifico back.”
 
Pepperoni Magnifico’s old-world pepperonis are smaller, with crispy, thick flavor, and they cup at the edges as they cook. The pizza also features Marco’s special Italian seasoning and traditional Italian ingredients: dough made fresh in stores daily, a blend of three fresh cheeses (never frozen) and a proprietary sauce recipe.
 
Pepperoni Magnifico is available starting June 1 in all Marco’s stores.
 
Marco’s Pizza (Marco’s Franchising, LLC), headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, was founded in 1978 by Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco. Since then, the franchise has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate more than 185 stores in 17 states.