News

Toppers Pizza reports sales increases

Toppers Pizza reported this week that company systemwide sales were up 17.2 percent during the chain’s seventh period — June 15 to July 12

July 31, 2015

Toppers Pizza reported this week that company systemwide sales were up 17.2 percent during the chain’s seventh period — June 15 to July 12. For the year total, sales have risen 27.5 percent; data is based on figures from 71 operating restaurants made up of 25 company-owned stores and 46 franchises, according to a company press release.

Same-store systemwide sales also increased during this period, posting growth of 7.2 percent. This comes on the heels of a first quarter that saw 28 of 52 Toppers locations exceeding the brand’s 10 percent same-store sales increase goal, said CFO Kendall Richmond.

"If I could sum up Toppers in one word, it would be 'momentum," Richmond said. "Sales are up across the board and we’re digging in for the remainder of the year with a huge amount of energy to execute the plan we put in place."

The brand closed 2014 with average store sales reaching $914,000 and entered 2015 with a mission in mind: to support franchisees and improve operations to increase same-store sales by 10 percent.

Since Toppers Founder Scott Gittrich left Dominos to "do pizza better" in 1991, the brand has developed a cult-like following and continues to grow nationally with a rising number of multi-unit deals, Richmond said.

Since the beginning of 2015, Toppers has signed two new multi-unit operators poised to expand and enhance the brand’s presence throughout Kansas, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Sioux Falls-based Nordic Venture Partners joined the Toppers family early in the year and will open six locations throughout South Dakota and Iowa over the next four years. Recently, Kansas-based Charma signed to open five new Toppers in and around the Kansas City area. Both franchise groups are run by multi-unit operators with decades of restaurant experience with established brands and are working hand in hand with the Toppers' corporate team to bring the right combination of pizza passion and strategic planning to make ventures into new markets a success, Richmond said.

Toppers also has locations in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, Indiana, North Carolina and Arkansas. The current focus is on entering new markets throughout the state of Illinois, while finding qualified operators to expand the brand into untapped markets across the country, Richmond said.

"We’re thrilled with how much progress we’ve made so far in 2015, but we know the best is yet to come," he said.