Your Pie Rockets Into 2017 After Signing 26 New Locations in 2016
Monday, January 30th, 2017
After celebrating the close of its strongest year of growth ever, Your Pie, the originator of the down the line, customized brick oven pizza concept, has its sights set on an even stronger start to the New Year. With the most robust pipeline in its eight-year history, the brand is perfectly positioned to use its innovative approach to down-the-line service to continue to lead the rapidly expanding QSR pizza segment.
Since Drew French founded Your Pie, the pizza concept has grown to 38 open locations and now has more than 50 stores in its development pipeline. Your Pie spent the year growing its customer base in existing territories throughout the franchise system, while also expanding presence into 13 states through a multi-unit approach which has helped operators thrive.
“When we created the concept for Your Pie, we made a commitment to providing customers with amazing taste that also incorporated the true art of pizza,” said Drew French, Your Pie founder. “With a focus on fresh, unique and artisanal ingredients, we continue to bring a vibrant, new dining experience to the pizza industry, and franchise prospects are taking notice. Now, we’re putting the entire QSR industry on notice that we will be pursuing even more aggressive growth in 2017, leveraging the unique franchise opportunity, successful business model and strong unit economics we’ve developed.”
In 2017, Your Pie will increase its focus on growth into new markets. On top of recent openings in Missouri and Maryland in the last year, Your Pie’s development team signed 26 new locations in North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Mississippi and Colorado, with openings in the pipeline in Charlotte, Columbus, and Denver. The brand also continues to expand in existing successful markets in states like Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, with openings also upcoming in Atlanta, North Augusta, and Orlando.
As the pizza concept continues to expand into new and existing territories, Your Pie consistently focuses on prioritizing delicious and unique ingredients. Hand-tossed dough, the freshest meats, cheeses and vegetables, and homemade sauces and salad dressings remain signature qualities of the brand’s offerings. Your Pie continues to introduce unorthodox flavor profiles to customers throughout the year, featuring unique, limited-time-only ingredients through the brand’s dynamic rotating Craft Pie Series.
“As we grow, we remain committed to delivering the same quality service and amazing food to our customers,” said Ken Caldwell, Your Pie vice president of development. “That’s easy to accomplish because of the strength of our business model. We are searching for driven, entrepreneurial-minded individuals eager to capture their dream of restaurant ownership. We know that when we put our franchise offering up against the rest of the QSR segment, Your Pie presents an extremely strong growth opportunity to prospective franchisees.”
Your Pie’s development and menu innovations continue to flourish, resulting in same store sales growth of 6.5 percent year-over-year. The brand’s success has not gone unnoticed by the industry. Your Pie is listed in the 2016 Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 and in QSR Magazine’s Top 10 Franchise Deals of 2016. The University of Georgia also recognized Your Pie as part of the university’s Bulldog 100 list. Finally, Drew French was invited to take a spot on the United States National Pizza Team, and participated at the 2016 World Pizza Championship in Italy—an honor that was not bestowed on any other retail pizza brand in the country.
“We saw tremendous success in 2016, and we’re extremely proud of the leadership we’re providing to this rapidly growing new segment in the QSR industry,” said Bucky Cook, Your Pie CEO. “But, despite that unprecedented success, we’re not looking back in the New Year. We plan to open up to 25 more new locations in 2017, nearly doubling the size of our current franchise system. Your Pie’s already strong impact on the industry will continue to grow in the year ahead.”