Franchisor Stories
With a focus on menu innovation, tech-driven convenience and great pizza, Toppers emerged as an industry winner over the past year. Now, the pizza franchise is positioned for massive growth.
Toppers Pizza, the pizza chain with nearly 70 corporate- and franchise-owned locations in 12 states, was founded when former Domino’s manager Scott Gittrich came up with a plan to disrupt the pizza delivery industry through high-quality ingredients, advanced technology and an attractive business model. Over the past year, those differentiators proved to be more relevant than ever as the pandemic created an unprecedented demand for conveniently delivered, delicious pizza. As a result, Toppers franchisees saw consistent, double-digit year-over-year sales increases. Now, as the world reopens, pizza is the perfect food for both gatherings and online ordering, and Toppers offers franchisees the opportunity to capitalize on both with a well-positioned concept and innovative business model.
When it comes to how Toppers succeeded during the pandemic, Greg Wold, vice president of marketing, points to several factors. “First of all, Toppers has a very passionate core customer base, and that really served us well throughout the pandemic,” said Wold. “The combination of our beloved menu and advanced technology created an extremely strong foundation for us to build off of.”
Toppers has always worked to set the standard for high-quality pizza. Created with real Wisconsin cheese, made-from-scratch dough and a wide array of fresh toppings, Wold says the Toppers menu is all about giving loyal customers exactly what they want, while also ensuring franchisees are thriving.
That’s why Toppers pioneered a customized POS and online ordering platform that turns the average smartphone into a remote control for pizza. Toppers’ proprietary e-commerce platform allows franchisees to leverage a first-party delivery system, available through each owner’s POS system. As off-premise dining became more popular than ever, Toppers franchisees could avoid the drawbacks of exclusively using third-party delivery apps — creating stronger returns and a better experience for the customer.
In addition, Wold says this infrastructure ensured Toppers was able to pivot quickly when the pandemic hit and changed consumer behavior. The brand rolled out new initiatives such as contactless delivery, curbside pick up and other operational adjustments.
Looking ahead, as gatherings increase and consumer behavior starts to shift back to a healthy mix of off-premise and on-premise dining, Wold is confident customers will remember how Toppers satisfied their needs during the pandemic.
“We’ve become more intimately involved in the lives of our consumers over the past twelve months,” Wold said. “Now, we’re launching a loyalty program and a new mobile app, which comes at a perfect time for the brand as it will allow us to truly reward our dedicated fan base. Our size allows us to quickly adjust to all of the ever-changing wants and needs of customers, and as the world opens back up, we’re continuing to build long-lasting relationships by treating our customers with respect, while offering convenience and really great pizza.”
Wold says one of the primary ways the brand is staying ahead of guests’ expectations and tastes is by prioritizing continued menu innovation. “Our menu has always been distinctive within the quick-service delivery category, and our personality is distinctive as well — we do things that the other big competitors can’t do,” said Wold. “Now, we’re continuing to look for innovative ways to bring new flavors to our consumers.”
Over the past few months, the brand has continued to roll out new menu items, including vegan options including Vegan Topperstix and the recent addition of prime rib as a topping option.
As Toppers continues to stay one step ahead of the constantly changing pizza industry, the brand has seen an impressive 11 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales for franchise owners. Toppers’ same-store sales have also increased 20% to 30% on a weekly basis in 2021.
Now, Toppers is continuing to look for qualified entrepreneurs in key growth markets across the country who are eager to utilize the brand’s well-positioned systems to achieve their dream of business ownership. The brand opened its fourth store over the last six months, and Gittrich says the level of franchisee inquiries Toppers is receiving is as high as it's been in five years.
“It is an exciting time, and it shows that people recognize the well-positioned value of our type of concept as more and more entrepreneurs look to start their own business and work for themselves,” Gittrich said. “There is no doubt pizza emerged as a rare winner over the past year, and Toppers was there to keep pace. Now, we are ready to continue that momentum by partnering with qualified prospects who will help us satisfy the pizza lovers in new communities across the country.”
The investment range for a Toppers PIzza franchise is $314,075–$530,000. The AUV for fiscal year 2020 was $1,030,000+ for stores open five years or more. For more information on franchising with Toppers Pizza, visit: https://www.toppers.com/franchise/
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