Pizza Today - August 2016 - 18

with SCOTT WIENER

man on the street

Multiplication Fables
Expand your business without losing your cool

California-based Pitfire Pizza has grown but each unit retains a distinct identity.

"Papa" John Schnatter once
referred to his 4,700-unit chain as
the country's largest independent
pizza company. It's hard to think of
an entity that's publicly traded and
advertises during the Super Bowl as
independent, but Schnatter clearly
sees value in avoiding perception as a
generic corporation. Big chains have
a reputation for lacking personality,
an attribute independent pizzerias
have in spades. But expanding beyond
a single location doesn't automatically
mean diluting your brand to satisfy
the lowest common denominator.
Pizzerias are finding creative ways
to add locations without losing the
magic of their home bases.
Phil Hartman cringes every time
he hears someone refer to his pizzeria
as a chain, but with 16 locations
across six states and more in the
works it's hard to call Two Boots anything else. The décor at every location
has the same funky Cajun-inspired
vibe, but the details are unique thanks
to mosaics, tables and counters
designed by local artists. Each loca1 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

tion features a "home slice" designed
to reflect the local neighborhood,
beyond the standard pizza menu they
all share. In NYC's Lower East Side,
you'll find a pie topped with pickles
while Nashville's Two Boots gets hot
fried chicken on its indigenous slice.
It's a really smart way to give each
store its own character while maintaining a level of continuity among
locations.
Along the same lines, Paul
Gianonne doesn't want satellite
locations to be exact duplicates of
his primary Paulie Gee's restaurant
in Brooklyn. He knows that much of
his success is due to the fact that he's
almost always in the restaurant. That's
usually a problem for someone planning expansion, but Paulie devised
a way to essentially clone himself.
Rather than hire managers for each
location, Gianonne is grooming fans
and friends to be owner-operators.
All they have to do is follow some
general design aesthetics, keep
50 percent of the flagship pizzeria's
menu, and play Paulie's curated clas-

sic rock playlist and they're good to
go. They also have to be at the pizzeria the vast majority of the time it's
open. It's a modified franchise model
that gives each store the freedom to
become whatever it needs to be for
its community.
Franchising is one way to ensure
high standards by sharing responsibility, but I'm seeing momentum in
another model coming out of California. Kirk Vartan and Marguerite
Lee are in the process of converting
one of their Slice of New York locations near San Jose, California, into
a cooperative. They opened a second
shop just under a dozen miles away
from their first location back in
2011 and found that their staff was
interested in more than just slinging
slices. Shifting to a model in which
all workers have an equal stake in
the business dangles the same carrot
off the end of the stick for everyone
in the shop. It establishes a shared
work ethic and encourages a powerful emotional connection not often
found in quick-serve restaurants.
Other Bay Area pizzerias, such as
Cheese Board Collective and Arizmendi Bakery have proven that it's
possible to expand both the business
and the passion behind it.
Opening multiple locations doesn't
have to force you into the abyss of
anonymity. You can successfully
expand your business without sacrificing character if you pay attention
to the attributes that resonate with
your guests rather than those that will
simply make it easier to run a cookiecutter operation. ■
SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's
Pizza Tours in New York City and
SliceOutHunger.org.

By RICK DAUGHERTY


http://www.SliceOutHunger.org http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM

Pizza Today - August 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - August 2016

Pizza Today - August 2016
Commentary
Contents
Contributors
Expo Spotlight
Interact
Conversation
Man on the Street
Respecting the Craft
Trending Recipes
Destinations
Dough Doctor
Proactive HVAC Care
Hot Toppings: Pineapple
Food Quality Control
Protecting Trade Secrets
Market Competition
Independent of the Year: Sizzle Pie, Portland, OR
Product Showcase
Pizza Today Yellow Pages
The Marketplace
Reader’s Resource
Snapped
Pizza Today - August 2016 - CT1
Pizza Today - August 2016 - CT2
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Pizza Today - August 2016
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Cover2
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Commentary
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 4
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 5
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Contents
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 7
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 8
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 9
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Contributors
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 11
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Expo Spotlight
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 13
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Interact
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 15
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Conversation
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 17
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Man on the Street
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 19
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Respecting the Craft
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 21
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Trending Recipes
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 23
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Destinations
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 25
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Dough Doctor
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 27
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 28
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 29
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Proactive HVAC Care
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 31
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 32
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 33
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Hot Toppings: Pineapple
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 35
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 36
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 37
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Food Quality Control
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 39
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 40
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 41
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Protecting Trade Secrets
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 43
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 44
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 45
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Market Competition
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 47
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 48
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 49
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Independent of the Year: Sizzle Pie, Portland, OR
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 51
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 52
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 53
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 54
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 55
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 56
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 57
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 58
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 59
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 60
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Product Showcase
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 62
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 63
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Pizza Today Yellow Pages
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 65
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 66
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 67
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 68
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 69
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 70
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 71
Pizza Today - August 2016 - The Marketplace
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 73
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 74
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 75
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 76
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 77
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 78
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 79
Pizza Today - August 2016 - 80
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Reader’s Resource
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Snapped
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Cover3
Pizza Today - August 2016 - Cover4
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