’95
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE In good times and in bad, people need to eat. It turns out pizza is a perennial favorite, whether you’re in Manhattan or Moscow. Christopher Wynne ’95 was working with Russian mortgage backed securities in Moscow when the bottom fell out of the global securities market. He shifted his focus to pizza, and it’s become both a challenging and rewarding enterprise. Christopher had purchased 51 percent of the Papa John’s Russian franchise as a “passive investment,” but that investment became very active once the 2008 financial crisis hit and wiped out his mortgage business. Papa John’s became “a blessing in disguise,” he said. In 2007, the business had four Papa John’s restaurants in Moscow. Today, there are 70 in three countries, including Belarus and Azerbaijan, and nearly 2,000 employees. The goal is to reach 100 restaurants in the next year and a half. “Our sales have increased 10 times since we bought the business,” said Chris, on the phone from Moscow. “That’s the opportunity – there’s very little competition and everybody loves pizza.”
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CLASSNOTES | Profile Christopher Wynne
In the United States, pepperoni is the best-selling pizza. In Russia, pepperoni comes in sixth. For a while, Papa John’s sold a “From Russia with Love” pizza, which included mashed potatoes, but it turns out the Russians pretty much prefer any pizza with meat. There’s the top-selling chicken ranch, and also a “Supreme,” which has sausage, onions, and green peppers. The biggest difference between Papa John’s in the U.S. and in Russia is that in Russia the restaurants are full service, including bars serving a full range of alcoholic beverages. Delivery is also a big deal. Chris’s Papa John’s has a fleet of 300 cars – Daewoo Matizs – sporting the Papa John’s logo. There’s also a tremendous opportunity to expand delivery, said Chris, who cites the New York City area with about 10 million people and 4,000 establishments that deliver pizza, compared to 12 million Moscow residents and just 500 or so pizza establishments that deliver. “Every different region or city has its own political structure that you have to deal with,” said Chris. “It’s a place where you test your grit and moral endurance on a daily basis, which makes life interesting.” Hailing from Fort Collins, Colo., Chris had a grandfather who attended Choate, Richard Edwards ’37, and great uncle Howard ’39. Cousins Nathan ’98, and Lisa Edwards ’00 also were at Choate. On the soccer field, Chris played fullback on a team that won the league championship, and gives major credit to varsity coach Watson Lowery and junior varsity coach John Ford with instilling the determination that helped him succeed in Russia. “Doing business in Russia is mentally painful,” he said. “Every day there’s a new problem.” “It tests character traits you otherwise wouldn’t test in business,” including endurance in dealing with problems over a long period of time, Chris said. “You have issues you wouldn’t have to think of in the United States.” Christopher started building his fluency in the Russian language in Naval ROTC while he was attending Northwestern University, majoring in economics. His graduate degree is in international affairs, earned at George Washington University. He used his Russian expertise researching arms proliferation for the U.S. government, which he said was interesting but did not exercise his creativity. He then imported computers, starting in 2002 when the Russian economy was still in the early stages before the big boom. That introduced him to a variety of people across the Russian economy, which has helped him build his business. In 2013, Chris’s Moscow franchise was named Papa John’s international franchisee of the year. Chris is rightfully proud of the accolade. “Here it’s something I’ve built from scratch,” he said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished something.” Chris typically returns to the U.S. once a month or every other month. He’d been thinking he’d be in Russia for two or three years, but it’s turned into 14 so far. “If you told me when I was at Choate that in 20 years I’d be selling pizzas in Moscow I would have said you are nuts, there’s no way,” he said. “But I couldn’t be happier.” by jeffery kurz Jeffery Kurz is general assignment editor and columnist at the Record-Journal in Meriden.