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Nontraditional footprint expansion: 7 points for success

Considering ways to expand that are off the beaten path can reach a new audience and teach you how to overcome unique challenges to build a more successful future.

August 14, 2015 by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group

Whether franchised or corporate owned, the ability to sustain and grow is a prime element of success for any restaurant. However, knowing how that will happen your brand can be difficult. Considering ways to expand that are off the beaten path can prove to be a positive move that lands a new audience and teaches you how overcome unique challenges and build a more successful future.

Here are some points to consider from the nontraditional expansions of Blackjack Pizza, Juice It Up! and Marco's Pizza.

1. 'Meet the customers where they're at.'

When traditional retail fronts are too expansive or not available, consider nontraditional units located within other businesses. For example, fast casual Juice It Up! offers franchising in a multitude of nontraditional ways. The company's nontrad stores are located within another primary business or in conjunction with other businesses. You may even find the brand in institutional settings, such as college campuses, airports, shopping malls and fitness centers.

The approach allows the brand to meet its customers where they're at, Carol DeNembo, VP of Juice It Up! said in an interview.

In 2014, fast casual pizza concept Marco's Pizza opened a restaurant within a hotel. In terms of sign and community, the location was fairly standard for the brand, otherwise would be a fairly standard location for a Marco's Pizza in terms of the size of the community, Bryon Stephens, President of Marco’s Pizza, told

"Deliveries and carry-out business were conducted from a restaurant within a hotel.  It wasn't too long before the restaurant attained average weekly sales that were double the chain wide average.  The influx of dine-in guests from the hotel and delivery services to the guest rooms was a natural extension of the business and so while the location was innovative, the restaurant's 'community" business extended to include hotel guests," he said. 

2. Consider offsite storage or a smaller menu.

Each nontraditional Juice It Up! unit is unique to itself, DeNembo told us. Limited space can cause operational concerns. Work with what you have by utilizing offsite storage, or if that's not an option, consider an abbreviated menu to accommodate the space. Above all, allow franchisees to consider nontraditional options. They likely have an idea of what works best for them, she said.

3. Get into the loan business.

When the credit market changed during the recession, Marco's Pizza created its own captive leasing business as well as Marco's Assurance, a loan loss guarantee company to ensure that banks would never be left holding the bag in case of default or shortage, Stephens told us. This enabled the company to continue grow during the toughest time business in the U.S. had seen in decades.

Marcos put capital on the line for potential franchisees by forming the leasing company, and backed up its belief in the brand by guaranteeing loans so that franchisees could still finance and open new locations.

4. Create ownership opportunities for store employees.

Marco's implemented an apprenticeship program that creates paths of ownership opportunities for Marco's Pizza store managers and other qualified employees.

"By leveraging an apprenticeship program, the brand can grow organically with leaders who 'grew up,' in the Marco's culture of accountability.  They understand the pizza business, have developed excellent skills and knowledge, have experienced a model for success and are already familiar with resources available to them," Stephens said. 

5. Partner with other businesses to expand opportunities.

A challenge to every new franchisee is finding the perfect spot for your restaurant.  Family Video entered into a mutually beneficial franchising partnership with Marco's Pizza that allows both companies to take advantage of real-estate and shared revenue opportunities.  Family Video stores circumvented that challenge and provided venues with an already developed presence in the community. 

"With Marco's Pizza incorporated on the premises, the concept of dinner and a movie makes a nice package," Stephens said.

6. Follow the money, but also the experience

6. Follow the money, but also the experience

Brothers Casey and Sam Askar of Askar Brands, a company that operates regional pizza concepts across the nation including Papa Romano’s, Papa’s Pizza To-Go, Breadeaux Pizza and Blackjack Pizza, noticed a regionally successful Denver-based pizza brand, Blackjack Pizza, that could further extend the Askar Brand footprint.

The brothers built on their success with Papa Romano's and shifted the core of Askar Brands to regional pizza brands and from 2006 to 2010 acquired one new pizza concept every year.

While Casey focuses on big-picture initiatives like acquisitions, Sam manages day-to-day relations with franchisees, franchise growth and store operations. The pair have acquired years of experience in the restaurant business that has allowed them to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in the pizza and franchise spaces. This has enabled them to excel in multiple regions across the United States, Casey Askar said in an interview. Today, Askar Brands is a franchisor in nearly every major area of the country, with nearly 200 combined units.

The team became particularly interested in Blackjack Pizza after noticing its existing success.

"We saw the great work the company president Mike Gaston was doing and knew that with the help of our team, we would fuel extraordinary results," Casey said.

"There is no price tag for the experience and talent of someone who has home-grown a brand, so when we purchased Blackjack Pizza in 2012, we kept Mike on at a high-capacity. The strategy Askar Brands implemented led Blackjack Pizza to successively experience positive year-over-year sales results."

7. Stay grounded in the basics

Casey said that one of his team's greatest strengths is their ability to preserve the existing goodwill of pizza companies, "an intangible value," while providing resources that enabled Blackjack Pizza to gain greater market share. The team improved Blackjack’s menu offerings and lowered its prices, and grew the brand from the inside out. Askar Brands’ approach is built with the employee in mind, which Casey said allows franchisees to concentrate on better execution and higher customer retention, while having the resources to grow their business.

They start by bringing companies back to the fundamentals and basic systems of business. With Blackjack Pizza, the company prodded them to create a more premium product line, including fresh, house-blended cheese, hand-tossed dough, better salad offerings and square-pan pizza.

"We also improved Blackjack Pizza's training processes, introduced new and updated employee manuals, and extended its marketing efforts," Casey said. "We are continuing to bolster our company infrastructure to gain greater control of the market. For now, we plan to stay private and grow as much as we can, with hopes of reaching 1000 units and compete as a major player in the market.”

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