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Mountain Mike's scales to new heights in the art of 'family' as customer

Knowing the customer has always been essential to any restaurant endeavor and pizzerias are certainly no different. But when your customer is actually four or five people who all want something a little different, catering to their needs can take a bit of wizardry, as the Western U.S, chain, Mountain Mike's exemplifies.

Mountain Mike's Monterey store (photo provided).

August 28, 2019

On the pizza restaurant playing field, the brands that end up with accolades for innovation and trendiness are typically those that cater to just about any customer, but the one known simply as families. But turns out that that might not be the most profitable approach, given some facts about one of the largest customer age groups — millennials and their ... well ... reproductive habits. 

That's right, seems this generation of diners are also pretty prolific reproducers, to the tune of about a million each year, who Pew Research reports are becoming new moms. The last time we checked that would also mean a million more in and around that age are also becoming dads again or for the first time, as well.  

In fact, NPD Group reported that just last year alone, millennials with youngsters increased the number of their restaurant visits 5% over the previous year. Not a bad source of restaurant revenue when you also consider that this group has money to burn and really likes to burn it eating out or ordering in.

In short, these statistics mean that though the pizza brands lauded as most hip might make the headlines, the family-focused brands like Mountain Mike's, Pizza Inn and Pizza Ranch, are definitely making money and doing quite well, thank you. 

To learn more about how a family-focused pizza chain is faring these days, as well as how they cater to family as customer, Pizza Marketplace recently explored these issues with Western U.S. chain, Mountain Mike's. 

Mountain Mike's: A case study in the family approach

Currently, Mountain Mike's has 211 franchise locations, but at least 20 more are set to open this year alone, according to the brand's VP of Marketing Carol DeNembo. Part of the reason for the brand's success is not only its mastery of marketing and catering to the multiple ages and tastes of the average family, but also its complete mastery of that old notion of "knowing thyself."

"I promise you, it has never been our goal to be trendy, but to meet a need in the communities we serve," DeNembo said in an interview with this website. "Mountain Mike's Pizza was founded on providing a place where families and friends can gather and enjoy one another's company. And the need for dining concepts centered on family is only getting stronger as millennials are now having families of their own."

In the case of great restaurant brands, knowing thy self, also means knowing your customer, too — inside and out. But when your customer is actually a unit of people with varied tastes, quirks, needs and personalities, that can be a real trick. 

For instance, Moreno Valley, California resident and committed Mountain Mike's customer and family-man, Mike Betancourth, is an integral member of just one such family/customer. He and his wife, Helaina and their three young boys have been regular customers of the chain's location in the Inland Empire area since it opened there last summer. His description of his family's varied tastes provides a great glimpse of the both the menu and marketing challenges presented when "family" is your main customer.  

"If you can believe it, my kids are actually picky when it comes to pizza, so when we find something that the whole family loves, we've struck gold. ..."Betancourth said in an interview with Pizza Marketplace. "Our go-to order is a large pepperoni and a small Mt. Veggie (pizza), more for my vegetarian wife. She and I usually add on the salad bar, too. And sometimes when my kids can't get on the same page, we get them their own mini pizzas."

Taking care to take care of the 'grown-ups'

Betancourth went on to say that he and his wife seek restaurants that really are targeted at that family unit by providing the more "adult" things for the "grown-ups," and lots of age-appropriate distractions and entertainment for the kids. 

That means brands that offer a little something to imbibe in the alcohol-imbued category for mom and dad, as well as arcade games for those rambunctious little boys and sports broadcasts over big screen TVs for, in this case, the whole family. As Betancourth stressed, a clean, relatively well-lit and family-friendly brand wins out every time with his clan. 

"Surprisingly there aren't a lot of family-friendly dining options around us," he said. "I think of places that are all about the games ... are more for kid's birthday parties when you expect mayhem, but perfect for a huge group of kids. 

"Mountain Mike's is good anytime. My whole family loves to watch sports on the TVs, plus I can have a beer and my wife a glass of wine while the kids play some arcade games. Pizza is easy, and we love it here."

As DeNembo said, that is all very intentional, right along with the brand's provision of things like party rooms to accommodate kids and family birthdays, as well as sports and other team events. The brand also works hard to build bridges throughout the surrounding communities around its stores, through fundraising events and everything from community "paint nights" to local concerts and trivia competitions. 

In fact, even its lunch buffet that caters to the business lunch crowd likely pulls in families once moms and dads return home from the office and face the hungry hoards at home.  

Size does matter

But perhaps most important is that fact that Mountain Mike's recognizes and makes its menu as mountainous in portions as its name implies, to fill the varied appetites of a typical family. 

"We are known for our famous Mountain-sized pizza, the largest pizza available for purchase out of the top 20 chains in our segment," DeNembo said. "Perfect for large families, parties and big appetites, our 20-inch Mountain-sized pizzas are always a huge hit."

This idea of hefty portions is communicated well too via menu items monikers like pies dubbed The Everest, Pike's Peak and The McKinley, as well as follow-through in execution through dishes like that aforementioned pepperoni pie that boasts 200 mini pepperoni slices per pie. 

With three boys — who, in a few years, will be those well-known voracious eaters known as teenage boys — the Betencourths can surely relate. And Mountain Mike's makes sure that whole family gets that message through its digital strategy designed to target the kids as well as mom and dad, DeNembo said. Even the brand's store location strategy is mindful of its family mentality. 

"With growth on the horizon, Mountain Mike's is finding huge success in suburban markets that cater to communities with large family populations," she said. 
The brand wraps up its family strategy with a constant connection to customer feedback via various tech avenues that make that kind of data more available than ever, as well as a new mobile app forthcoming and lots of social media activity to let families know when the brand is engaging with a cause or organization they support.  

In the final analysis then, this brand is one Mountain Man that appears to have conquered the challenges of providing peak experiences for everyone from the kid that plays with his stringy pizza cheese, to the adult that just really appreciates a little time with a little wine at the end of a long day when someone else does the cooking. 

All photos: Provided