CELEBRATING ART FROM THE HEART

Denver-based Pizzeria Locale shone a spotlight on differently abled artists to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act throughout July. The three-store company partnered on the promotion with Access Gallery, a Denver nonprofit that helps disabled people make and sell art through galleries and corporate commissions. Pizzeria Locale showcased pieces of Access Gallery art at all of its locations and profiled the individual artists in detailed social media posts. The company also developed 23,000 custom pizza boxes printed with art by Access Gallery’s artists and donated one-third of all its July 26 sales to the gallery. Seventy percent of Americans with disabilities are unemployed, and Pizzeria Locale used the promotion to call attention to their talents and abilities.

“I hope the boxes make people think for a moment about accessibility and how they can facilitate that on their personal end,” Pizzeria Locale brand manager Chris Donato told Denver publication Westword

Masked Up At Fired Pie

Fired Pie, a fast-casual pizza concept with 21 locations in Arizona, hit upon a marketing-savvy solution to the COVID19 mask controversy. To convince guests to wear their masks and protect their fellow pizza fans from the virus while in Fired Pie stores, the company designed its own branded mask with the Fired Pie logo, which customers can purchase for $4. And when they wore their masks in any Fired Pie restaurant during the month of August, they received a $1 discount on their purchase. The chain promoted the offer with a social media contest, inviting Facebook users to tag friends or family members who would be interested. Winners were chosen at random and received a free mask and pizza every Monday in August.

A Sacred Bond

At first glance, Holy Crust, a new eatery in Dallas, doesn’t seem to make pizzas the way God intended, but don’t tell that to owner Phil Romano— he learned his technique from his mother. Instead of baking the crust, sauce, cheese and toppings together, Romano sautées the toppings and places them on the cheese-laden crust, letting the heat melt the cheese before baking the pie. Romano, who also founded chains like Fuddruckers and Romano’s Macaroni Grill, opened Holy Crust in a restaurant and entertainment marketplace called Trinity Groves in early August. “I’ve been eagerly waiting to unveil this concept, which is very special to me, as it honors my own mother,” Romano said. “My mom’s pizza is still my favorite way to eat the dish, and I hope to convert Dallas diners to this unique and delicious version.” Romano also puts a jug of wine at every table and lets customers pour their own glasses on an honor system. “Just tell the server how many glasses you’ve had when you’re ready to check out,” the restaurant’s website says. “If you’re dishonest, take it up in the confessional on Sunday.”

Good Sports In The Kitchen

The owner of Pizza Barn in Princeton, Minnesota, knows you can never go wrong marketing around high-school sports—even in the middle of summer. Jody Paulson Stay developed a July promotion spotlighting the state’s most popular school mascots as determined in a Twitter poll conducted by the Minnesota State High School League. She and her staff developed a pair of pizzas named after the Moorhead High School Spuds, the No. 1 finisher, and the Blooming Prairie High School Awesome Blossoms, the runner-up. The Spuddy features roasted baby red potatoes with a hint of rosemary, garlic butter, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, bacon, chives, sour cream and a dash of seasoned salt. Stay went with a barbecue theme for the Awesome Blossom pizza, which boasts a barbecue sauce, fried onion petals, bacon and cheese. Stay’s hometown Princeton Tigers haven’t fared too well lately on the football field, tallying a 5-5 record last season. But she told a local news site that she employs many of the school’s athletes, noting, “If they can’t excel in their chosen sport, they sure have in the kitchen.”

Cec Drums Up Deliveryonly Business

As Chapter 11 bankruptcy loomed for CEC Entertainment this spring, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese adopted a secret identity, borrowing the name of the drummer in its animatronic Munch’s Make Believe Band for a delivery-only brand called Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings. The brand’s relationship to CEC was uncovered by a Reddit user in May, and CEC admitted to the media that it had quietly launched Pasqually’s nationwide, offering delivery through Grubhub. In late July, CEC announced it had inked a deal with third-party platform Postmates “to bring Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings directly to wherever you are.” Sherri Landry, CEC’s chief marketing officer, added, “We are extremely proud of what we’re building and the excitement that our guests have expressed for this new brand. The results we’ve seen thus far have been extremely encouraging, and CEC Entertainment has more in store for this delivery-only brand.” Pasqually’s shares kitchen space with Chuck E. Cheese locations and uses the same dough. “But it is a different pizza that features a thicker crust and extra sauce, giving consumers a more flavorful, more premium experience,” CEC said.

PAPA JOHN’S ISN’T STRUGGLING ANYMORE

As the pandemic has put some independent pizzerias out of business nationwide, the once-struggling Papa John’s is doing better than ever these days. The company announced in July that it will add 10,000 more workers to meet ever-growing demand for its pizza delivery and carryout. It was Papa John’s second major hiring spree of 2020; the company added 20,000 employees at locations around the country back in March. Like rivals Domino’s and Pizza Hut, Papa John’s has seen a surge in sales since the pandemic began. It logged a 28% increase in North American same-store sales and a 5.2% rise internationally during the second quarter of 2020. May was also its “best sales period in company history,” with 26.9% same-store sales growth. All in all, 2020 has brought a remarkable turnaround for Papa John’s, now led by CEO Steve Ritchie; just two years ago, the chain, still reeling from scandals involving ousted founder John Schnatter, announced it was reducing royalties and other fees to help franchisees stay in business.

Papa John’s current CEO Steve Ritchie came under fire by ousted founder John Schnatter, but the company’s fortunes have improved dramatically under his leadership.

Because if your phones and web ordering are down, you may as well send everyone home. We become your phone company and provide a backup Internet connection

IP Phone Service

Increase revenue and lower cost

• No Busy Signals

• Call Recording

• Call Queuing / Auto-Answering

• Multiple (random) start-of-call upsell messages

• On-hold music/message loops

• Detailed reports—hold times, lost calls etc

• Callerid delivered to POS system

• Auto-attendants—”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one”

Cellular Backup Internet Protect against outages

• When your Internet fails our cellular backup router keeps your phones, credit card processing and web orders all working.

• The backup kicks in automatically in seconds. So quickly you will not even drop calls in progress when your primary Internet goes down!

• The same router can be used to create chainwide virtual private network to connect your locations.

• SD-WAN LTE/LTE-A (4G/5G) modems.

Ask us how we can make your life easier and improve your customer ’s experience during these difficult times. Our rapid response support team averaged almost 500 custom changes per week in April-June. As “the rules” changed for our clients, we updated messaging and call flow to minimize impact, maximize revenue. Let PizzaCloud do the same for your stores.

Maintain control, and get the calls off the front counters. For a small chain all you need is a large office at one location. Cut labor hours up to 50% and/or shift labor to lower cost regions while increasing average ticket . Eliminate the constantly ringing phones at the front counters! Tight integration allows calls to overflow to stores, so you can choose when to staff the call center.

The same tight integration, same detailed reports and call recordings in your hands, same ability to overflow back to the stores, but you let some one else hire and manage the staff. We can provide this service to you or work with your existing call center provider.

If you have any interest in call centers call us to discuss options or visit www.pizzacloud.net to register for a webinar.

After the pandemic hit, CPK was quick to pivot to an off-premise model that included takehome meal kits for families.

Pandemic Forces Cpk Into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK), headquartered in Playa Vista, California, became the latest major restaurant chain forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the coronavirus pandemic. The company announced on July 30 that it had entered into a restructuring support agreement with lenders aimed at equitizing “the vast majority” of its long-term debt.

The filing will allow CPK “to close unprofitable locations, reduce its longterm debt load, and quickly emerge from bankruptcy as a much stronger company,” the company said in a press release. CPK expects to receive about $46.8 million in financing that will allow it to continue operating its stores, pay vendors and employees, and honor ongoing commitments to its stakeholders.

CEO Jim Hyatt called the filing “a step towards a stronger future for California Pizza Kitchen.” In a separate statement on the CPK website, he said, “We anticipate a short stay in Chapter 11 and expect to progress on an expedited timeline. Our goal is to complete the Chapter 11 process in under three months.”

Under private equity owner Golden Gate Capital, which bought the chain in 2011, CPK had been struggling with debt for some time prior to the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the company was looking into restructuring its debt to avoid a bankruptcy filing

In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered restaurants to close dine-in services across the state after a resurgence of the virus. Newsom had first suspended indoor dining in March, then allowed a phased-in reopening process that started in May. As the pandemic worsened, he ordered another dine-in shutdown in early July that covered 19 counties, including Los Angeles County, before expanding the order to cover the entire state.

CPK, which opened its first store in Beverly Hills, California, in 1985, was a pioneer of the California pizza style and now operates more than 250 restaurants around the country. As the pandemic worsened, the company rolled out CPK Market, an off-premise model that offers meal kits and pantry items like meats, fruits and vegetables. The company also temporarily closed more than 40 locations that were unable to pivot to the new model.