Article

Your Pie looking for national growth in the midst of fast casual pizza boom

With 22 units open, Your Pie is hoping to break out of the Southeast and go nationwide.

March 3, 2015 by Brenda Rick Smith — Editor, Networld Media Group

With interest in fast casual pizza high among consumers – 55 percent report eating fast casual pizza at least monthly – now would seem like the perfect time to jump in and start growing a fast casual pizza concept.

And with many jumping in and struggling to grab their slice of the market, it may also seem like the worst time to jump in and start growing a fast casual pizza concept.

To Drew French, founder of Your Pie, it really doesn't matter either way. His goal isn't for his concept to be the biggest, it's for his concept to be the best.

But bigger wouldn't hurt.

Why not fast casual pizza?

French founded Your Pie in Athens, Georgia in 2008, not long after he graduated from the University of Georgia with a marketing degree. He'd known since he was a teen that he wanted to open his own restaurant, and worked his way through college in various restaurant jobs. He fell in love with fast casual concepts, and began dreaming up ideas for his own.

"Fast casual is really just redefining the restaurant space in general," said French. "People want fresh, they want customized, they want to control their experience."

It wasn't until he was on his honeymoon with his wife in Italy that the idea finally crystalized: why not fast casual pizza?

French spent the next two years finalizing a business plan and launching his first restaurant. His experience in Italy shaped his vision. His concept included a brick oven rather than a conveyor oven, because he felt it was more authentic, tasted better and provided a better customer experience.

"An open flame is a better experience than a metal box with a conveyor on it," said French.

Challenges

As a first-time pizza maker, French worked through a variety of issues that slowed production, and now throughput stands at about seven minutes per order. The brick ovens can hold as many as 25 pizzas at a time.

Another challenge for French was educating guests on the experience.

"Traditionally, pizza is a shared experience," explained French. People were accustomed to ordering one large pizza and sharing it. They were initially confused by the smaller pies suitable for one person.

But as soon as customers caught on to the idea that they could customize their pizza to get exactly what they wanted, they were sold.

"One of the disadvantages of being first to market," said French, "is that you've got to learn from doing rather than seeing someone else do it. But it's cool doing it that way, too, because there's a little more passion in what you are doing."

Growing

French began franchising Your Pie in 2010, and efforts really ramped up when Georgia Oak Partners invested in the brand in 2013.

That's when Ken Caldwell, VP of Development, joined the Your Pie team. Caldwell's previous experience includes leading franchise efforts for Heavenly Ham and later Honeybaked Ham.

Your Pie now has 22 units open, and 24 more under development, with a goal of selling 30 – 50 more units this year, says Caldwell. The company has deals signed for the Chicago, Houston and Oklahoma City markets, along with Arizona, Delaware and Virginia.

While Caldwell hopes to take the brand national, he's not so much focused on geography as people, he says. He's eyeing experienced franchisors – not necessarily foodservice operators – who can deliver great product and customer experience, and who have deep ties to the community.

Your Pie only has one corporate unit, and plans to keep growing via the franchise model.

"We think people that are invested in those communities are going to operate better than we are," says Caldwell. "We know at the end of the day, sometimes the best ambassadors are the local guys in their communities who just have the one store. We're about growing with the right people, not necessarily just being the biggest or the fastest."

About Brenda Rick Smith

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Brenda has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing and public relations professional. She invested most of her career telling the story of entrepreneurial non-profit organizations, particularly through social media.

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