Three Reasons Marco’s is the Fastest-Growing Pizza Franchise in the Country

With 500-plus restaurants, Marco’s has come up with the perfect recipe for growing a pizza franchise

Marco’s is the fastest-growing pizza franchise in the country: We grew 33% in 2013 and we are on pace for an even more successful 2014. We opened our 500th location earlier this year, and we have hundreds more stores in development.

Just like we have perfected the recipe for a great-tasting authentic Italian pizza, we’ve also perfected the recipe for achieving phenomenal growth. Here are three of the key ingredients:

1. Marco’s devotes great attention to great ingredients. Desire for quality inspired our business in the first place. Marco’s founder, Italian-born Pat Giammarco, created authentic Italian pizza for the American market: artisan pies, made with fresh dough and top-quality ingredients, delivered to customers’ doors in about 30 minutes.

The idea was that if people could get a more delicious pizza for the same price as they paid for the competitors’ fare, they would certainly prefer the tastier pizza. Our customers have proven that for 26 years. Today Marco’s is not only the fastest-growing pizza franchise, but offers the best quality pizza.

Laurel Wilkerson, the Marco’s Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year 2012, who owns restaurants in Oklahoma, bought into the business because of the quality of the food. “I bet we had not eaten a pizza in 10 years,” she said — until a friend opened a Marco’s, and Laurel’s family fell in love with the pizza. “It was so good, we ordered it every week.”

We deliver top-quality pizza by paying close attention to ingredients. Our team members make pizza dough fresh every day in every store, using flour made from high-protein, Minnesota-grown spring wheat. Our sauce is made from a family recipe, using hybrid tomatoes developed especially for Marco’s. A proprietary blend of three fresh cheeses from Wisconsin and Iowa blankets every Marco’s pizza. It’s fresh, never frozen. Our pizzas include only real cheese. We chop fresh vegetables right in the store. We use only premium meats — no fillers! — for toppings, including two types of pepperoni and our own meatball-sized sweet Italian sausage.

2. Marco’s sets up franchisees for success. Marco’s executives have many decades of experience in growing restaurant businesses, including franchises. From the first restaurant in Toledo in 1978, Marco’s rapidly expanded throughout Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. By the mid-2000s, president and CEO Jack Butorac realized the company could grow significantly through franchising. Jack spent nearly 30 years helping the YUM! Brands, Chi-Chi’s and Fuddruckers restaurant empires expand, so he knew how to lead our transition from a regional staple to the fastest-growing pizza franchise in the country.

Consistency is everything in franchising, and we make sure every pizza served at every Marco’s delivers the same excellent taste. Using dough, sauce and cheese formulated specifically for our brand helps us achieve that consistency. So does thorough training. As Denver franchisee Nick Costanzo says, “Training is one of the most important things we do for a new franchisee. If things are off a little bit, you can’t go store to store and you can’t make sure everything is done perfectly every time … I think that’s why it’s simple to bring someone with a little bit of experience or a lot of experience into the pizza business, because we have good processes in place that get someone to make our product the exact same way every single time, which is the most important thing.”

Unlike some chains, which leave franchisees to make real estate decisions, the corporate team at Marco’s does most of the work finding ideal sites. Strong locations give franchisees the best possible chances of success from the day they open their doors. We scout properties in high-density suburbs, preferably in community shopping centers anchored by a supermarket or big box retail chain. We want franchisees to do business in places with at least 20,000 cars driving past every day, to maximize visibility and make their restaurants convenient for their hungry customers. We also give franchisees plenty of marketing help, including finding opportunities for local news coverage.

3. Marco’s has many prime territories available. Competing chains, such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Little Caesars, have saturated their markets with tens of thousands of units. Marco’s only recently opened our 500th store. That leaves plenty of room for us to gain market share in the $40 billion annual U.S. pizza market. We have many regions available for multi-unit development. We know Marco’s will continue to be the fastest-growing pizza franchise for years to come.

“The company is large enough that it’s had a few growing pains and it’s worked its way through those things and it’s positioned itself to grow,” says Rick Poston, a multi-unit owner in Georgia. “But it’s small enough that there’s a lot of opportunity.”

Learn more about Marco’s

At Marco’s, we’re excited about our rapid growth, and there’s never been a better time for the new or experienced investor to join our proven concept. If you’re an entrepreneur with a passion for working with people, owning a Marco’s pizza franchise may be the perfect fit for you. To learn more about joining our dynamic and growing company, please fill out the form at right or call us at 1-800-262-7267 to start a conversation. We’d love to hear from you!