(Press Release)Â TOLEDO, Ohio, Sept. 4, 2012 — With the recent
celebration of its 300th store opening, Marco’s Pizza is continuing to
eclipse the growth rate of industry heavy hitters and further anchoring
itself as the fastest-growing pizza company in the United States.
The Toledo-based franchisor of Ah! thentic Italian pizza opened its
300th milestone location in Wheeling, IL, also marking the company’s
first Illinois store. Opening an average of one new store per week,
Marco’s Pizza now operates restaurants in 24 states and the Bahamas,
and plans to open over 85 locations by the end of this year alone.
Company plans also call for having a total 1,500 restaurants open and
operating in the next seven years.
“We’ve accomplished considerable growth in the past few years and
continue to strike multi-unit deals in new areas around the country to
expand our footprint,” said Marco’s Pizza CEO Jack Butorac. “Our
continued success, despite a weakened economy, is a true testament to
the brand and all that we’ve done to position ourselves atop the
multi-billion dollar pizza industry.”
Butorac noted that in addition to system growth, many Marco’s Pizza
locations are continuing robust positive same store sales to date in
2012. In fact, Marco’s Pizza same store sales since the beginning of
2011 have been 7.04% system-wide and 10.85% in Company managed stores
— impressive anytime but especially given the general US economy.
Company executives attribute several Marco’s Pizza’s initiatives for
enabling the company to expedite its growth, including an innovative
partnership with movie and game rentailer Family Video, creative
financing options for would-be franchisees and the creation of a
“hybrid” franchise model that has recruited top-level executives from
other brand giants.