Why Multi-Unit Owners Are Flocking to Marco’s Pizza ® Franchise
Fast-growing Marco’s Pizza ® franchise has many prime territories available
A great product and a great location are two prime ingredients in success. That explains why multi-unit operators are so excited about Marco’s Pizza ®, and it helps explain why Marco’s is the fastest-growing pizza franchise in the United States. Much of that growth is being driven by franchise owners who want to build on their success by opening more stores in prime locations.
Marco’s has surpassed the milestone of 500 stores and is on track to have 1,000 locations by the end of 2016 — and we’re not about to slow down. Our goal is to become the fourth-largest pizza franchise in America.
Marco’s biggest competitors have become victims of their own success in franchising. They simply don’t have much territory left for ambitious new franchisees. Marco’s is in a much different position. We’re still growing, and many markets are wide open for ambitious entrepreneurs who want to put stores in prime locations and expand throughout the market. We’re in 29 states and three countries, and we’re aggressively planning to carve out a bigger slice of the $40 billion pizza industry.
Location, location, location
The website AllBusiness.com, one of the world’s largest online resources for small businesses, calls location “critical.” No other decision is more important. Pick the wrong real estate, the editors warn, and “you’re less likely to succeed” no matter how hard you try.
The Wall Street Journal Online says picking the right spot is a “pivotal” decision that can determine success or failure from the moment your business opens. For example, “a location on the outskirts of town might be more affordable but may be too remote for customers to reach conveniently.”
That’s not a concern for Marco’s multi-unit franchisees, because they have almost unlimited opportunity to reserve prime locations. Opening a Marco’s Pizza ® franchise is relatively inexpensive compared with the cost of starting other casual dining restaurants, and owners don’t need to have restaurant experience. We educate our franchise owners on everything they need to know.
Marco’s multi-unit owners speak out
In a relatively short period of time — about four years — Kevin and Laurel Wilkerson went from dreaming about owning their own business to owning seven Marco’s Pizza ® franchise locations and overseeing over a dozen stores as Area Representatives in the Edmond, Oklahoma, area. The retired military veterans selected Marco’s over other pizza franchises because they felt it offered a superior product and more opportunity to grow.
“I like Marco’s scalability,” Kevin says. “You can get into a store for $300,000, so you can open multiple stores. You have a recurring revenue if you take care of the store and the customers, because they’ll come back time and again. It has wide market appeal because everybody loves pizza. And there’s opportunity for community involvement and fundraisers for community causes. It also offers a good investment-to-return ratio.”
Eric Bueter bought his first Marco’s Pizza ® franchise 28 years ago at the age of 23. He now owns nine stores in Northern Ohio, and he enjoys encouraging new Marco’s franchisees to grow beyond one Marco’s location. The father of four says existing Marco’s franchisees are one of the franchisor’s best resources for owners who want to keep growing.
“There are a lot of great people in the Marco’s organization,” Eric says. “You can pick up the phone and talk to with the owner of the highest volume store in the chain if you want to. You can talk to franchisees who own multiple stores. I encourage new franchisees to pick up the phone and call the Marco’s veterans. They’ll stop you from making tons of mistakes. How many companies can you pick up the phone and be able to talk to just about anybody you need to?”
Another successful multi-unit owner, DJ Patel of Atlanta, Georgia, came to Marco’s from Pizza Hut in 2011 because of the quality of the pizza and the chance to develop many Marco’s units. DJ oversees 40 Marco’s Pizza units in Georgia, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia, and he recently announced a deal with Marco’s to open 400 stores over the next 10 years.
Not surprisingly DJ is bullish on Marco’s growth potential.
“There is plenty of room to grow, not only in Georgia, but all over the U.S.,” DJ says. “Marco’s isn’t known in every single household, and that presents an opportunity.
“Marco’s gives me the opportunity to show franchisees what’s possible,” DJ adds. “It’s a lot easier for me to convince somebody to do what I’m doing if I’ve hit a home run with it. I have multiple examples of success now. I have been very successful not only finding but developing franchisees and in helping single franchise owners grow into multiple franchise owners.”
Learn more about Marco’s Pizza ® franchise
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 below or call us at 1-800-262-7267 to start a conversation. We’d love to hear from you!
