Toppers Cincinnati opening featured in The NewsRecord

Toppers was recently featured in an article discussing their upcoming opening in Cincinnati. The article details all the cool reasons why Toppers is so beloved by the college demographic, from late night hours to unique menu items to "ping" pong ball dispensers! It also gives students information about the opening on Oct 2 and everything it will offer, including free food for a year for the first 50 customers in line, and the opportunity to be photographed in the Toppers mascot costume and "become a part of Toppers history! Check out a portion of the article below or read the full story here.

Toppers to award first 50 customers
By Meredith Tipton | Staff Reporter

Late night pizza, games, TV and an inviting atmosphere make for the ideal lobby of a college dorm. Thanks to Toppers Pizza, this description also applies to the lobby of a pizza restaurant coming to Clifton.

Wisconsin-based and college-oriented Toppers will open its first Ohio unit on Saturday,

Oct. 2 at 345 Calhoun St. Toppers sets itself apart from other "old, stale, boring" pizza places with its menu, as well as the events planned for its grand opening, said Brett Larrabee, director of franchise development.

Toppers' tradition at each grand opening grants the first 50 customers one year of free food from the restaurant. This has led to people lining up outside the building, sometimes camping out 48 hours in advance, Larrabee said. (Read More)

Toppers Pizza looks to expand into Oxford, Ohio

Toppers was recently featured in the Miami University of Ohio’s student newspaper, Miami Student called “Dine-in pizza shop hopes to open in Oxford.” They talked about the ways in which Toppers caters to college students, from late-night hours to unique menu items to ping pong ball dispensers, and discussed why Oxford is such a perfect place for Toppers to be. They said they plan to enter Oxford sometime within the next 12 to 18 months. Annie also interviewed Alan Kyger, Oxford economic development director, who spoke about Oxford’s lack of dine-in restaurants, a void that Toppers Pizza would certainly fill. Check out a portion of the article below or read the full story here.

Dine-in pizza shop hopes to open in Oxford
By Annie Butler

Toppers Pizza, a pizza chain based in Whitewater, Wis. hopes to expand its franchise to Oxford.

The avant-garde establishment caters to a college-aged market and plans to open a restaurant in Oxford within the next 12 to 18 months. Rick Fullarton, a 2005 Miami University graduate, will spearhead the expansion as Toppers Pizza's newest co-owner and operator.

The Oxford restaurant will be one of 15 franchises in Toppers' Ohio expansion plan. Toppers Pizza targets the 18 to 34 age group and intends to break ground near colleges and universities, according to Fullarton. Fullarton is opening the first Ohio franchise near the University of Cincinnati Oct. 2.

According to Brett Larrabee, Toppers Pizza director of franchise development, Toppers will compete with Oxford's nine well-established pizza restaurants by relying on its irreverent marketing plan.

"(Toppers is) a brand all about you," Larrabee said. "Our marketing is very unique, some may say it's borderline shocking, but the kids like it and appreciate it and think it's cool." (Read More)

Cincinnati Enquirer previews Toppers' new Cincinnati location

The Cincinnati Enquirer has just posted an article about Toppers Pizza’s new opening in two weeks! Food Reporter, Polly Campbell spoke with Toppers owner, Dave Fullarton, about why he chose to bring this new pizza franchise to Cincinnati for the first time. The story comments on Toppers’ legendary grand opening celebrations and describes its unique menu. Check out a portion of the story below or read the full article here:

Topper’s Pizza to open here.

Fifty people will get free food for a year when Toppers Pizza opens at 345 Calhoun St. in University Heights on October 2. This Wisconsin-based chain, just now moving into Ohio, gives away a coupon book for one free food item a week to the first 50 people to come in. This usually leads to lines and people camping out overnight.

Then they settle into selling pizza, subs, quesadillas and more, mostly to college students. That’s their market, rather than the families that most national pizza chains are going for. They do a lot of delivery, on college student hours, from 10:30 a.m. until 3 a.m. every day. There are also seats and carry-out, but it’s not meant to be mostly dine-in. They don’t sell beer. The company’s big on social networking and maintains an irreverent image to appeal to their 18-34 year old customers. They include some important college icons in their decor: a telephone pole for stapling up notices and a ping-pong ball dispenser for playing. . . . ping pong. (Read More)

We Come Fast, No Apologies: Eclectic Pizza Franchise Expands to Tri-State Area with First Set for Cincinnati-Area

Toppers Pizza Continues Successful Emergence Outside of Wisconsin; Focuses on Maintaining Consistent Fanatical Brand Support Location-to-Location

The big pizza chains serve their purpose: Mediocre food, mediocre promises, mediocre connections. Toppers Pizza, though, a 26-unit eclectic pizza delivery franchise brand, doesn’t fit that mold. And now Toppers Pizza is going to bring the first pizza concept with personality to the Tri-State area – set to open in the Cincinnati-area in 2010 under the leadership of experienced restaurant group.

Leading Toppers expansion into the Tri-State area is a family of locally-based entrepreneurs: father Bob Fullarton and two sons, Dave (29 years old) and Rick (26).

From the get-go the Fullartons were impressed by how Toppers Pizza takes a typical pizza concept and shakes it up through their irreverent personality that’s edgy and unfiltered, characteristics created and maintained through the leadership of CEO and Founder of Toppers Pizza, Scott Gittrich.

While Papa John’s, Domino’s, and Pizza Hut are stuck in a stiff battle for the family demographic, Toppers remained hooked on being a hip, cool brand, connected to the nationally untapped 18-34 demographic. This strategy, Gittrich said, has helped Toppers sustain its growth, even in a down economy, in that there are more young, energetic consumers craving a real brand connection.

“We were blown away at the quality of the food, the unique menu and the originality that sets Toppers apart from the national pizza brands,” Dave Fullarton said. “It didn’t take much convincing to get us on board and we’re excited to bring Toppers to our community in the Tri-State area.”

Along with its ability to tap into the most influential demographic, 18-34 year olds, Toppers has made a name for itself as the innovators of unique menu items. Toppers was the first delivery brand to capture the cheesy bread marketplace with its famous Topperstix. Toppers has never shied away from innovation with its Mac ‘N Cheese; Potato Topper; Cool C-B-R (Chicken-Bacon-Ranch); The Hangover Helper; Buffalo Wings, Quesadillas, Grinders, and dozens of other menu items. Different from the competition, 70 percent of Toppers’ sales come from items not traditionally found on competitor’s menus.

“The Fullartons fit the profile of typical Toppers franchisees in that they have the drive to go over and beyond the lackadaisical efforts of the other guys,” Gittrich said noting that Toppers is expecting to grow multiple units within Ohio in the next few years.

The Fullartons will also carry on a Toppers tradition when it opens its doors to the public later this year by giving away free food for a year to the first 50 customers. This marketing method creates a fanatical madness, and rush, with Toppers’ customers waiting as long as 48 hours prior to the opening of the doors.

“Once Tri-State area residents taste our pizza and experience our brand, they won’t go back to the competition,” said Dave Fullarton, noting the freshness, uniqueness and quality of Toppers ingredients. “I’m confident Toppers Pizza will become a household name in the Tri-State area.”

Toppers Pizza was just recently featured in the Dayton Daily News!

Pizza chain eyeing Dayton for expansion
By Mark Fisher Monday, March 29, 2010, 10:59 AM

Scott Gittrich hopes his second experience with Dayton is more rewarding than the first.

In 1991, Gittrich — founder and CEO of the Whitewater, Wisconsin-based Toppers Pizza, a mostly-delivery pizza chain that targets the 18-to-34 age group demographic — was offered the opportunity to become the franchise owner of a couple of Domino’s pizza shops, the large pizza chain for which he was working in Charlotte, N.C. Gittrich researched the offer, but didn’t like what he found about what were then a pair of low-volume, struggling stores.

“It wasn’t anything about Dayton, but it just didn’t fit with my own entrepreneurial spirit,” Gittrich said. “I’d prefer to do my own thing rather than try to reverse the fortunes of an existing franchise.” (Read More)