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Toppers Pizza leaders' epic road trip is all about gathering insight

Scott Gittrich and his wife, Robin, are on a trip to visit all 71 stores in the Toppers Pizza franchise. Along the way they're holding town halls and meeting ground-level employees and execs from other brands to brainstorm.

Scott Gittrich, founder and president of Toppers Pizza, talks to an employee during his road trip. Provided.

May 6, 2022 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Scott Gittrich and his wife, Robin, are on the trip of a lifetime. No, they're not traveling to an exotic beach or daring countryside. Instead, they're traveling to all 71 stores in the Toppers Pizza franchise.

Gittrich, founder and president for the Whitewater, Wisconsin-based pizza chain, and Robin, vice president of HR, are traveling the country to learn what makes each restaurant tick and gather intel from their employees — dubbed "rockstars." It's an ambitious undertaking, but one the Gittriches will gladly undertake if it means strengthening the company.

Gittrich founded Toppers Pizza in 1991. Today, the brand has 26 company stores and 45 franchise units. The AUV sits at almost $1.2 million. The brand is 95% QSR, with the majority being carryout and delivery.

"We've had 15 quarters of same-store sales growth, so it's been a nice run," Gittrich said in a phone interview, attributing the increase in sales to being the right kind of business in the midst of a pandemic. Toppers was already set up for carryout and delivery when the shutdowns occurred, so it didn't really have to pivot.

Toppers has invested millions into building its own technology infrastructure. Seventy-seven percent of business is digital, another pandemic-era boon that showed the company was situated perfectly to handle business during COVID-19. As a QSR, it was able to stay open when other brands had to close.

On the road

When Pizza Marketplace caught up with the Gittriches, they were traveling the longest distance between two stores — Ft. Worth, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina. That's a lot of road time to talk about their $84 million brand and the big franchise growth they've got planned.

Scott Gittrich, left, and Robin Gittrich, right

All in all, their trek should last about two months. Although the brand usually has people traveling to restaurants, the road trip is a first for Gittrich, who's looking for "high accountability and high support."

"That's our mantra," he said. "We've got some tenure in our franchise ranks. We've got incredible franchise operators who know how to run businesses (and) know how to run restaurants."

The impetus behind the trip lies in the fact that Gittrich hadn't been in stores very much himself over the last few years. He wanted to get back in his restaurants and see for himself what makes Toppers so successful.

"Part of it was to get out there and celebrate that we're past COVID," Gittrich said, "and that we've been doing such an incredible job and our teams have been doing such wonderful work."

Brand officials conducted team member surveys, and Gittrich learned employees felt that corporate didn't understand the stress put on them daily at the ground level. "I'm a pizza guy through and through," Gittrich said. "I'm an operator."

During the trip, they've met about 600 team members, visited 31 stores at the time of this interview and held nine townhalls. Gittrich and Robin are also meeting with corporate members of other concepts outside of the pizzaverse like the CEOs of Scooter's Coffee and Salsarita's to brainstorm and exchange ideas. They're also hitting up iconic pizza places along the way.

On the menu

The brand is known for its in-house recipes and variety, so it makes unusual recipes for pizzas, mac and cheese and tater tots. "That's what customers know us for — our bold flavors and unique toppings," Gittrich said.

Dough is made in-house daily and vegetables are cut fresh. Aside from pizza, Toppers has a mac and cheese line, good Wisconsin cheese curds and interesting desserts. The brand's breadsticks, known as Topperstix, comprise more than 20% of sales.

Toppers' check average is up 30% over three years ago, and there are several factors at play, Gittrich said. First, they moved away from unending promotional pricing and discounting the menu.

"There's still good value for people who want to shop but we went away from the national huge, deep discounting a few years ago and really focuses on what makes us 'us' — our quality and variety," he said.

Instead, Toppers added a vegan line, some side items and more premium toppings that can add to the check total. Those have been well-received, Gittrich added. They've also increased prices in increments in the right places.

Franchising efforts

Toppers Pizza plans to open seven to 10 units this year, with an additional 14 to 18 next year. Despite the pandemic, it focused heavily on franchising last fall.

Franchisees are pivotal to Toppers' consistency.

"Our franchisees love the brand," Gittrich said. "They love the brand, they love the success and the strength of the brand. We've all bought in because we've got something that works and we're not going to mess with it."

Gittrich called his franchisees "incredible" and said they're willing to work inside the brand to help it succeed. Franchisees are set up for success from the start with a well-defined concept and proprietary technology, he added.

"What makes Toppers special is we're a culture-driven concept, so we've got kind of this youthful, funky attitude and you add in these fun, quirky house recipe menus with late nights in half of our stores," Gittrich said. "On top of that, we're just hardcore business people."

That includes a fully-integrated POS system, apps, a loyalty program and an interactive website. Today, brands are fighting for every piece of efficiency, and Gittrich said Toppers is able to do just that.

"The way a QSR pizza customer perceives us as the fun, hipper higher quality pizza — it's a fun pizza concept, except it's delivery and carryout," Gittrich said. "We're not the cheap, crappy pizza place."

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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