Franchise Focus

Pizza Nova franchisee believes in quality, consistency, brand culture

Driven by a lifelong connection to the brand, franchisee Chi-son Phu has successfully grown his Pizza Nova business in Toronto by strictly following the corporate system while prioritizing community involvement and a people-first approach to staff retention.

Photo: Pizza Nova

January 15, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Chi-son Phu became a Pizza Nova franchisee first and foremost because he believed in the brand. He grew up with Pizza Nova, and saw the quality, consistency and culture first-hand. He didn't have restaurant experience but learned everything hands-on through the Pizza Nova system.

"It just felt like the right place for me to grow," Phu said in a phone interview with Pizza Marketplace. "And especially because Pizza Nova is a well-known brand in Ontario. It's one of those pizza chains that's been around since 1963, so that's over 60 years in business."

Photo: Pizza Nova

Getting his start

Phu opened his first Pizza Nova in 2016 and expanded to a second unit in 2024.

He first applied and went through the interview process to see if he was a good fit for the brand. He was vetted, and the company checked to see if he fit into the company culture and had the finances to support a franchise.

After that, Phu worked with the brand for two weeks in a training store. It's a hands-on training, making pizzas, learning how the business is run, local store marketing tips and tricks and how to train staff.

Toronto is a tough market, Phu said, and his biggest difficulties opening his first store was staffing and dealing with the long hours. He learned how important consistency and customer service are, and he's constantly learning every day.

The COVID-19 pandemic was the franchise's biggest hiccup. Being downtown Toronto, the franchise relied heavily on office workers, students and tourists. Almost overnight, sales dropped, the city's streets emptied and there were new problems to solve daily.

"On top of that, people were scared, my staff were scared, customers were extra, extra sensitive about cleanliness and safety. What helped me get through it all was just staying calm and going back to basics, where cleanliness has always been a big part of my stores, so when COVID did hit, my team was already used to the strict cleaning schedules," Phu said.

Photo: Pizza Nova

Staffing

Phu employs about 18 between both stores.

He said hiring is difficult in this economy, but there are plenty of modern outlets to find employees, including job fairs and banks. Good word of mouth remains his most profitable hiring tool.

"If you build a good relationship with your staff, they will always find other staff for you as well because, you know, the kitchen and the pizza community is pretty small," Phu said.

He even gets some staffers from interested customers.

The hard part is retention, Phu said. He pays more than minimum wage and tries to treat his employees like family.

"I always try to get to know my staff and understand their 'why' because everybody has a reason why they're working. I understand it's yes; it's because of the money to pay bills, but there's always a deeper meaning to that why. Why do you need money? Is it for school? Okay. Is it because you're supporting family back home? Is it because you have kids that you're trying to support? And once you build that rapport with them and treat them like family, understand their 'why,' they respect that and they tend to stay with you longer because you're building something together with them."

Competition

Phu said Pizza Nova stands out in the Toronto community with its quality. Its service and commitment are top-notch and they do a lot of local-store marketing as franchisees.

The company runs radio ads, and Pizza Nova is the official sponsor of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Recently, Phu launched a 7-7-7 promotion. For seven consecutive days, customers got two slices for $7 because the Blue Jays made it to game seven of the World Series.

Phu is also big in his community, trying to stay involved as much as he can. He's a coach for youth soccer programs at the public school; he volunteers at a non-profit called Nutmeg and he's part of a search and rescue team.

"Giving back to me is important because for me, Canada gave my family a chance and I always want to try to pay that forward," Phu said. "So I always stay committed and involved in my community. And for Toronto, yeah, it's a big city, but just your demographic, your community, the more you do things for your community, the more they recognize you and they go, 'Hey, you know what, I know that guy, I know that coach, you know, he owns the Pizza Nova down the street.' And then for a pizza place like ours, we need as much help from the community as possible. So, if you support the community, they'll support you back."

Franchise rapport

Phu said he works well with the franchisor because he's open and honest. If something needs improvement, he's not afraid to speak up, but he appreciates the support given by corporate.

"I appreciate the support they give us because for me, whenever I ask for guidance, training materials, marketing help or even a simple clarification, they respond right away," Phu said. "I always try to show them that, I'm a franchisee who uses the tools properly, so I follow their system the way it's designed and I think because I follow the system, they respect it and they give me the respect back."

He said corporate is always looking for better vendors for the franchisees, but his current vendors work well. Phu said he always gets the freshest ingredients, and problems are secured in a timely manner.

There's a franchisee feedback committee that consists of six to eight members who are the head of different districts. If Phu has a problem, he goes to the franchisee committee leaders and shares his issue, who then shared it with the head office.

Staying with the brand

Phu said the company culture is what keeps him with Pizza Nova. Putting customers and staff first is a priority: "There's a lot of companies out there that it's all about profiting, profiting, profiting, that's the bottom line. For us, we always have to care about our people because from what I learned is, you take care of your people, your staff, your customers, your community, the rest will take care of themselves."

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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