Toppers Pizza in Pizza Marketplace

Toppers Pizza in Pizza Marketplace

ToppersPizza was featured in an article in PizzaMarketplace October 1^st, 2014 about the remodeling taking place at Toppers Pizza. 

The article talks about about the new Toppers model that is being rolled out at locations across the system. It showcases how it’s a more financially efficient design and how this is part of the brand’s push for aggressive growth. Toppers CEO and founder, Scott Gittrich, touches on the strong financial returns that are funding the remodels. The article then dives into the strong expansion the brand has experiences and includes a lot of great development information about strong growth markets. The next section focuses on obstacles and then Scott discusses the company’s push toward online ordering and mobile. The article closes out with a great wrap-up about the culture at Toppers and how the brand stays fresh and relevant.

Read the full article here. 

Toppers in QSR

Toppers in QSR

Photo from QSR

The article introduces the idea of checking back in with brands that QSR has featured in their “Ones To Watch” since 2007. Toppers receives a “HOT” ranking due to their incredible success and growth since they were featured in July 2008 and grew from 18 to 57 units. The article points out that Toppers has tripled their unit count since 2008 and Chris is quoted about the fact that Toppers has simply gotten better in all key areas that support growth and success. He is also quoted about the variety available at Toppers that you don’t find in other big pizza chains. The article also provides a link to QSR’s “2014 Best Franchise Deals” where Toppers is a star as well. 

Read the full article here.

The Balloon Effect: Toppers Sets Sights on Midwest Expansion

Successful Capture of 18-34-Year Old Demographic Spikes ’09 Sales; Projects Strong Onward Growth

WHITEWATER, WI – In 2009, the face of the pizza industry frowned, as sales were sluggish and growth was stunted. Toppers Pizza, though, dodged a slowdown with increased average unit volumes and system-wide sales; five new units; and 18 under contract. When the big chains are down, Toppers has remained up, taking names and gripping its share of the $40-plus-billion pizza industry. Why?

“The reason for our success is simple: We are not one of the ‘Wal-Marts’ of the industry. The big chains have lost identity and brand connection,” said Scott Gittrich, founder and CEO of the growing Whitewater, WI-based 26-unit franchise brand. “Our customers are fanatical about our brand. Our quirkiness and edginess has given our brand character, thus we have been able to continue our growth and bonding with an untapped national demographic – the 18-34-year olds.”

Along with its ability to tap into the most influential demographic, 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.

Gittrich has never swayed from his original mission: Create an eclectic pizza delivery experience while maintaining a better product and service than the competition. While Papa John’s, Domino’s, and Pizza Hut are stuck in a stiff battle for the family demographic, Toppers has maintained its original strategy of 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.

Additionally, to celebrate the grand opening of each new location, Toppers gives 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. This, coupled with other out-of-the-box marketing methods, has lifted the brand into high ranks of success.

When Gittrich created Toppers in August 1991, he had the fortune of a long-stint in the Domino’s camp, in which he was inspired by its core culture, values, leadership of its founder Tom Monaghan, and even earned the privilege of securing one of the famed Rolex watches Monaghan awarded to his top performers. When given the opportunity to become a franchisee of two sinking Dayton, Ohio, Domino’s units for the price of just $1 each, Gittrich turned it down.

“I rebelled against the big box,” he said. “I knew that by pouring my heart and soul into my own concept I would be able to create a brand one-step better than the competition.”

Gittrich’s plan worked. The first Toppers location opened to rave reviews, a fanatical following, and an all-star first four months after opening in August of 1991. But just like any start-up business, there was bound to be a down moment. In December of its first year of operation, Toppers’ sales sunk to just $700 for the week, thanks to an underestimated college winter break. The downs are the reason Gittrich has remained a franchisee in his own system, as the owner of seven locations, he is able to test, treat and market new initiatives as well as contribute to the national advertising fund.

“I won’t give up being a pizza delivery franchisee,” he said, noting he still operates the locations, including the newest Whitewater location/training facility. “It is important for me to be in the trenches with my franchisee family. Plus, I love the grind way too much.”

Unlike other franchise brands, Toppers makes an earnings claim in its franchise disclosure documents, stating that the Wisconsin locations make an average of $945k/year (2008 AUV), which is a remarkable financial measure given the size (1,600 – 1,800 sq. feet) and that industry averages are nestled right around $600k/year. The high return on investment is built from the fanatical aspects of the brand, as well as dedicated, driven franchisees who are deeply connected to those in their community – especially the nearest university. Franchisees entering the Toppers system must have a minimum liquidity of $150k and a net worth of $300k. The average cost to open a Toppers is $400k.

“As we grow, like a balloon, out of Wisconsin and into surrounding states and then nationwide, we want to maintain a stronghold on top-tier franchisees. By doing so, we can maintain our core culture, our brand evolution, and our methodical growth pattern,” Gittrich said.

Toppers Pizza Celebrates 20 Years; Ramps Up National Growth Strategy

Hires Franchising Veteran to Run Development Campaign for First Time and Position Franchise for Aggressive Growth

WHITEWATER, WI – CEO and Founder of Toppers Pizza, Scott Gittrich’s vision has come to fruition over the past 20 years. That vision was to create an eclectic pizza delivery experience while maintaining a better product and service than the competition.

“The reason for our success is simple: We are not one of the ‘Wal-Marts’ of the industry. The big chains have lost identity and brand connection,” said Scott Gittrich, founder and CEO of the growing Whitewater, WI-based 26-unit franchise brand. “Our customers are fanatical about our brand. Our quirkiness and edginess has given our brand character, thus we have been able to continue our growth and bonding with an untapped national demographic – the 18-34-year olds.”

While many brands hurry to sell franchises and get as many locations open as quickly as possible, that can prove to be a failure. Toppers has stuck to the mantra of slow and steady growth ensuring that its open locations survive despite even the harshest of economic conditions. Over the past 20 years, Toppers has created a sound system, and is ready to unleash its opportunity to the masses.

Supported by almost one million dollar AUVs, a fanatical fan base with an almost cult-like following and franchisees who eat, breathe and sleep the brand, Toppers has all the pieces in place to become a huge national player. The way it will get there: hiring a 20-plus year franchising veteran who has experience with brands like Five Guys and Pancheros and who has also been a multi-unit Subway franchisee himself, as well as unleashing its first-ever national advertising strategy for franchise development.

Brett Larrabee, the new Director of Franchise Development for Toppers Pizza, said himself that at first he thought that Toppers was just another pizza place, but upon learning more about Toppers, he realized that Toppers was different.

“What I found was a company that was offering a buying experience. They were talking to the pizza consumer’s heaviest user demographic (college students) in a way that they wanted to be spoken to. They have created a Marketing Machine,” Larrabee said. “As a result, Toppers is able to maintain strong margins in what is usually a commodity/price-driven business.”

Larrabee will enact a slightly different franchising strategy to help Toppers grow throughout the country, putting a focus on connecting with multi-unit developers who want to build up store density in larger markets. Toppers’ next focal points for saturation are Chicago, Minneapolis, and Cincinnati, but the franchise is also looking at development opportunities with multi-unit franchisees in large markets nationwide.

“We’re looking for franchisees who are excited by excellent unit economics and an entire map to play with,” Larrabee said. “The larger multi-unit franchisees haven’t even been exposed to Toppers franchise model yet and once they see what’s possible, this brand is going to explode.”

Aiding Larabee to get the word out about the tremendous opportunity Toppers presents to potential franchisees will be a new focus on franchise development marketing.

“Before now, the budget wasn’t there to focus on growth outside of corporate and organic growth,” he said. “Now, we are going to market our brand right to the big players who will be unable to look away once they see what’s possible.”

Toppers Pizza mushrooms in area

Scott Gittrich, president and founder of Whitewater-based Toppers Pizza Inc., visits the chain's Kenilworth Place store on Milwaukee's east side. The chain has seven Milwaukee-area locations, the newest of which opened this month in Fox Point.

Chain's growth accelerates beyond college-town beginnings
By Doris Hajewski of the Journal Sentinel

Whitewater - Some people get into the restaurant business for the love of good food. For Scott Gittrich, it was the Mercedes driven by his 25-year-old boss at the pizza restaurant where he worked during college.

"It was a very exciting time to be in the pizza business," Gittrich said of his job as a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza in Champaign, Ill. He dropped out of the University of Illinois to pursue his dream.

Now Gittrich owns Toppers Pizza Inc., a $19 million franchise chain based in Whitewater.

For most of the years since Gittrich opened his first restaurant in Champaign in 1991, the business has grown slowly. But lately Toppers has picked up the pace, despite the downturn in the economy.

The 26th Toppers location opened May 16 in Fox Point. Gittrich has ambitious plans, aiming for 100 stores by 2013 and 500 by 2020.

Gittrich said he's succeeded by targeting a demographic that the big pizza guys don't go after: 18- to 24-year-olds.

Part of that mission stems from the company's start in college towns. After Champaign, Gittrich moved to Whitewater, where he opened a restaurant in 1993. The next two were in Eau Claire and Stevens Point, in 1997. The first franchise store opened in 2000, in La Crosse.

"The big pizza places, they get all the business, but nobody's really that happy with them," Gittrich said. "We have a fantastic fan base."

Toppers lets customers know that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The Toppers guarantee: "We unconditionally guarantee that your order will be fresh, delicious, satisfying, hot, sexy, mouth-watering, well-read, intelligent, responsible, fun-loving, and prepared exactly the way you ordered it."

Toppers' growth is against the prevailing trend in the restaurant industry.

For the quarter that ended in February, food service traffic declined by 1.5%, according to NPD Group, a research firm in Port Washington, N.Y. The quick-service restaurant segment, which includes carry-out pizza stores, experienced its first decline this quarter since the winter of 2003, down 1%.

Technomics Inc., a Chicago food industry research firm, reported slower growth rates for restaurants in 2008. The 500 largest chains in the United States posted a 3.4% growth rate for the year, compared with 5% in 2007, Technomics said in its annual report released in March.

Toppers isn't large enough for the top 500, which includes companies with sales of at least $35 million. That group accounts for 80% of all fast-food restaurants.

Independent operators dominate the pizza restaurant business, making up 65% of sales as of last July, according to a report in PMQ's Pizza Magazine, citing data from InFoUSA. Pizza Hut, the largest pizza chain, made up nearly 10% of the market, followed by Domino's with 6.8% and Papa John's with 3.6%.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomics, has a home in Elkhorn and is familiar with Toppers. He believes there are several reasons why Toppers is finding success.

"They not only have what's been considered to be by many very good pizza," Tristano said. Toppers also serves up variety - chicken wings, sandwiches and breadsticks with flavored toppings.

Toppers' cost of entry for franchisees is relatively low compared with some other restaurants. Toppers franchisees can expect to invest $272,000 to $495,000 to open a location.

Toppers' revenue has increased by 30% for the past two years, mainly because of new store openings, said Scott Iverson, director of advertising and franchise development. On a comparable-store basis, revenue increased 7% last year.

But the economy is showing some effects on individual store results, Gittrich said.

Lower prices this year for ingredients have helped profits, Iverson said. Toppers has been able to maintain its prices, so profits are holding up even with a decrease in the number of transactions, he said.

The bad economy has reined in the pace somewhat in the past year, Gittrich said. Two planned stores haven't been able to open because the franchisees couldn't get financing. The new Toppers in Fox Point brings the number in the Milwaukee area to seven.

The Fox Point restaurant has the look of Toppers' upgraded prototype, which includes four plasma-screen TVs and a soft-seating area with a coffee table.

Even at the helm of a fleet of pizzerias, Gittrich never did buy a Mercedes like the one he coveted back in the 1980s when he was a student/pizza delivery guy.

Gittrich did eventually finish college, earning a degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2000, when he was 37. But he drives a Ford Expedition with 276,000 miles on it.

"I just never bought a new car, and this one is as good as new. I would rather open another store a little earlier than buy another car," he said.



Read it online at the Journal Sentinel