August 31, 2010
Industry Headlines
While it has created plenty of buzz and touted several development deals, New Orleans-based NakedPizza hasn't actually opened any franchised stores — until now.
A prototype location opened in Miami Beach on August 28, and more stores are set to come on line prior to the end of 2010. The next opening is slated for September 6 in Louisville, Kentucky.
"Miami is the perfect starting location; it's a culturally diverse and style-setting center with an orientation to healthy lifestyles," says Jeff Leach, co-founder of NakedPizza. "Our goal is a tasty, good-for-you pizza, an honest exchange, and the beginning of a real, meaningful change in the way people eat and live."
NakedPizza touts its product as being made with unprocessed ingredients that are free of additives, trans fats and other harmful chemicals commonly found in most of today's quick-serve foods. The company also claims its pizza has half the calories of other takeout and delivery pizzas.
Beginning September 8, and for a limited time, Stevi B's is adding a new specialty pizza to its buffet lineup. The Chicken Cordon Bleu features alfredo sauce, onions, tomatoes and chopped, grilled chicken. It's then topped off with two varieties of bacon and mozzarella cheese.
"At the beginning of the year, we challenged ourselves to develop several truly unique specialty pizzas that showcase our menu development team's innovative recipes and provides our customers with something that is truly authentic," says Stevi B's president Matthew Loney. "The Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza is a twist on an American classic, and we believe customers will respond enthusiastically to this limited time offering."
Seattle-based Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria recently celebrated being named Pizza Today's 2010 Independent of the Year by giving away free pizzas to its customers. Last week, Tutta Bella gave its dine-in customers 8,451pizzas — a little over $100,000 worth of retail sales — as a way of saying 'thank you' for the community support.
Joe Fugere, Tutta Bella's founder, says: "Honestly, in our wildest dreams, our small restaurant family couldn't have imagined seven days more jam-packed with outreach, joy and appreciation."
2010 has been quite a year for Tutta Bella. In addition to winning the aforementioned Independent of the Year honor, it also claimed a National Restaurant Association "Hot Concept" award in February, as well as a Washington State Restaurant Association "Best Full Service Operator" award in March. This hat trick of honors was capped off by a meeting with President Obama two weeks ago.
Fugere thanked his 180 employees with a note that read, in part: "I am honored to be able to work with someone like you who has such a caring heart, generous spirit and positive attitude ... Your loyalty to me (and) our customers, and to Tutta Bella, is unbelievable!"
Anthony's Pizza & Pasta, a 27-unit company based in Denver, is launching a $150,000 ad campaign in September that's designed to highlight quality and mock the advertising claims of large chains such as Domino's and Papa John's.
One of the campaign's headlines: "We've never had to change our recipe. Because it never sucked." Another one says, "If their ingredients are better, why isn't their pizza better?"
Finally, a third headline reads: "Pizzeria pizza. Not fast food pizza."
The ads will run as billboards in Denver. They'll also appear as bus tails and sides.
The National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index registered at 99.4 in July, down 0.1 percent from June. Anything below 100 signals contraction in the industry. Additionally, July represented the fourth straight month in which the RPI declined.
"While there were signs in recent months that the short-term outlook may be improving, the latest figures indicate that the restaurant industry's recovery has yet to fully gain traction," says Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the NRA. "Restaurant operators continued to report declines in same-store sales and customer traffic in July, and their previously optimistic outlook for sales growth and the economy softened in recent months."