Franchisee Since: 2010
Franchise Locations: Two slated for St. Paul area
How Dan Ogiba and Brad Vinton Got Started With Toppers Pizza… Dan and Brad have been best friends since becoming college roommates their freshman year at Hamline University. Both played football for Hamline and became fast friends. Over the next five years, Dan and Brad roomed together and shared the same passion for starting their own business one day.
During game day one day last year, Dan had a bunch of his friends over watching the game. Of course, the group of friends wanted pizza for their viewing party. Dan had taken out a coupon book he kept of all the pizza chains that sent coupons. He laid them on the table and one of his friends said, “We’ve got to order Toppers,” pointing to the Toppers mailer on the table. Dan had never tasted Toppers before, but since that day, he’s been hooked.
Less than a year later, Dan ran into Scott Iversen, Toppers Director of Marketing, at the IFA convention in San Antonio, while he was there representing Haagen-Dazs as Director of Franchise Development for the ice cream franchise. He was eager to speak with Scott because he loved Toppers Pizza. He found out then that Toppers was looking to grow.
Since then, Dan has corralled his best friend, Brad, to become co-owners of new locations in St. Paul. The duo has signed on to open two locations in St. Paul, with one of those being in the same neighborhood as their alma mater at Hamline. Brad will be the general manager while Dan will continue to work with Haagen-Dazs.
What Intrigued Dan Ogiba and Brad Vinton about Toppers Pizza …That initial reaction from Dan’s friend about his excitement that Toppers’ had a Minneapolis location is what drew Dan in from the start. With Dan and Brad’s research of Toppers, the two have learned that Toppers has customers that are more connected, more engaged and more fanatical than most other brands. If that type of fanaticism is possible in Wisconsin, the tag team is up for the challenge to bring it to St. Paul as well. In addition, Dan, working with a franchise system that has been in existence for many years, was impressed that the Toppers’ corporate team is so well put together, comparing it to some of the best franchises in the country.
Dan and Brad are excited to bring Toppers to their college town – where they have their fondest memories – and create the Toppers experience. In Dan and Brad’s opinion, St. Paul doesn’t have a pizza place with personality or one that gives its customers an emotional connection to the brand. An ample part of building their business will be to ensure that everyone who visits Toppers has a great experience and making those customers, customers for life.
Something Interesting About Dan Ogiba and Brad Vinton Story… Dan and Brad’s goal is to open their first Toppers location in time for Super Bowl weekend 2011. Their first location will be in the proximity of four St. Paul universities. Their second will be around Hamline University and the University of MN, St. Paul.
