Operations

Parlour fits niche in region lacking craft concepts

Parlour, a five-unit concept in the Louisville, Kentucky, area, fills a niche for craft pizza, beer and cocktails. The brand will begin franchising this summer.

Photo by Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group

June 7, 2023 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

The rise of craft beer and pizza in the U.S. has brought about a revolution in the industry. Gone are the days of the checkered tablecloths and Chianti-bottle candles. Today's pizzerias are all about putting the craft at the forefront of operations.

Meet Parlour, a five-unit concept that began in Jeffersonville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky, in 2017. The brand focuses on craft pizza, craft beer and craft cocktails.

"It's where my wife and I would meet friends after work for a beer and pizza, and it was a cool environment," said Don Robinson, CEO and president. There were multiple partners who owned the restaurant at the time, and Robinson knew one.

Robinson is not new to the restaurant business — he's been a Penn Station sandwich brand franchisee for more than 20 years. He sent a text to his friend who owned the business in 2019 telling him he was interested in buying Parlour "and he called me in 30 seconds and said 'We're taking offers,'" Robinson said.

Don Robinson, CEO and president of Parlour in the Louisville, Kentucky, area. Photo by Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group

The deal closed in August 2019.

"Our intention was never to grow it," Robinson said. "It was just the coolest place in Jeffersonville and we liked the vibe. We just thought it would be a side investment."

COVID hit in March 2020, and Robinson said they realized they were on to something special when Indiana opened restaurants back up but Kentucky stayed shut down. Louisville residents flooded Southern Indiana restaurants, and Robinson's team got plenty of positive comments about the product and the concept. They decided to expand during the pandemic, a move Robinson admits was "crazy," but he saw plenty of opportunities in the area.

They owned another restaurant in Louisville called Craft House, which served more upscale bar food. When it shut down due to COVID regulations in the state, Robinson said they decided to reopen it as a Parlour in June 2020.

After a pizzeria shut down in nearby New Albany, Indiana, that building was purchased by Robinson's team and turned into a Parlour in December 2020. They also leased a space in downtown Louisville, "and our intention there was that we were going to do two concepts with a shared kitchen," Robinson said. One side was a trendy upscale restaurant and the other was a barbecue concept.

After the state reopened for 45 days, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear shut the state down again after another wave of COVID infections. It was then that Robinson said they decided to reopen the downtown restaurant as a Parlour.

"Once we started opening the other Parlour locations, we felt we had a concept that could grow and could scale," Robinson said. "The feedback we were getting — it just felt right. This was the avenue to go."

The sales at that location slowly rose as the city of Louisville's downtown region reopened, and now it's one of Parlour's top locations.

This year, Parlour added its fifth location in a Louisville suburb when a local pizzeria owner called Robinson saying he was ready to retire. Since the building was already a pizza shop, it didn't take long for it to reopen as a Parlour.

Operations

All the restaurants are full service. Robinson said the brand is about elevated service and product.

"We really focus on doing things that most in our segment of this industry don't do," he said, such as making the syrups for cocktails like Old Fashioneds, Bloody Marys and margaritas, and soaking cherries in bourbon for garnish. "That's our focus: craft beer, craft pizza and craft cocktails."

A supplier makes the brand's proprietary dough, red sauce and garlic butter. "Anything that we can do to maintain a high level of quality but simplify operations is what we've tried to do," Robinson said, adding that Parlour has partnered with PFG as its food service provider and has a great relationship in order to grow.

The DR. is a popular offering, and it has an olive oil base, sliced provolone, shredded mozzarella, sliced green peppers and red onions, smoked chicken, bacon, jalapenos, sliced Roma tomatoes and a house-made peppercorn ranch drizzle.

The Hot Honey Pepperoni — with Parlour's signature red sauce, oversized pepperonis, sliced provolone, shredded mozzarella and a drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey — is also a customer favorite.

The Meatball pizza is also a favorite and features red sauce, sliced provolone, shredded mozzarella, fresh basil and authentic Italian meatballs. It's also sprinkled with fresh parmesan.

Photo by Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group

Parlour also features calzones, starters, salads, grinders and smoked wings smoked in-house every day and finished in a convection-type oven. Craft cocktails are designed in-house, and Parlour offers 30-40 beer taps that are rotated daily. With so many upscale offerings, the brand is a standout in the Louisville area.

"It's just who we are," Robinson said. "It's important that we provide a different environment than most are accustomed to in the pizza segment, and we felt it was lacking not just in our area but regionally and nationally. There's just not a lot of concepts that focus on a higher-end pizza and provide that elevated service and products to support it. We felt like there was a niche."

Robinson said the concept has been well received by customers. The brand ended Q4 of 2022 with a 22% increase over 2021 and in Q1 of this year, Parlour's sales are up 45%. "Our average unit volumes are well above company average in this segment," Robinson added.

Photo by Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group

The brand is currently in the process of getting its paperwork in line to franchise with hopes to begin regionally and nationally in July. Robinson said he knew the brand was ready to franchise after the growth and positive feedback Parlour has received in the area, especially the downtown Louisville location, which is across from a large hotel and brings in guests from all over the country.

As Parlour grows, Robinson said there's a heavy focus on its culture and people, which helps it maintain consistency as it expands. They've built a foundation to handle the growth well with a team of experienced restaurant execs. The brand's COO retired from Yum Brands and has an "incredible amount of knowledge on a large scale and …. our CFO is young but extremely knowledgeable," he added. The VP of franchise sales has operational and vendor/supplier experience.

"Training is the backbone," Robinson said. "We are very selective in who we bring in. Everybody in every industry talks about culture, but our values are important to us. We treat everyone the way we would want to be treated."

He added that training up front when an employee is hired is important, but so, too, is continual training as the employee progresses at the restaurant. "The importance of building a foundation and a team as we scale is huge, so we are in the process of promoting someone to be the director of training so they can support our current stores but, more importantly, they can support our franchise locations as they come on," Robinson said.

Parlour's execs plan to grow regionally first in areas like Lexington, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio. Shortly after the July launch of franchising, Robinson expects to make an announcement that several territories have already been sold.

"The one thing we did not want to do was sell locations … and then try to figure out how to support them," Robinson added. "Our key was 'Let's put the team in place' where we can support (franchisees) out of the gate and have successful openings. And that was an investment on the front end on our part — a huge investment."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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