West Palm Beach, Fla. – Marco’s Pizza, one of the nation’s fastest-growing pizza brands, announces expansion plans for Palm Beach County as it continues to innovate and adapt in the post-pandemic era. Amid the pandemic, Marco’s Pizza outperformed other QSRs, recording historic sales milestones, while supporting communities nationwide. The brand plans to add 13 Palm Beach County locations by 2025 through strategic franchise partnerships.
With an open real estate market, three thriving locations under operation, and a favorable competitive landscape, Palm Beach County is an obvious and attractive area for growth. Recently, Hinesh Patel, franchisee of Marco’s Pizza in Boynton Beach, experienced several weeks of record sales as it continues to serve its community with contact-free delivery and curbside carryout. Kickstarting the new development effort is franchise owner Johnny Wong, who is slated open his location at 1540 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. in Palm Beach this October. Marco’s Pizza has an impressive $918,047 average unit volume*, and is actively seeking single and multi-unit owners to help grow its footprint throughout the populous county in areas such as West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and beyond.
“There are 39 municipalities within Palm Beach County, with only three Marco’s Pizza locations. The open landscape, paired with positive market reception, makes the decision to expand an easy one,” said Glenn Ajmo, Area Representative for Marco’s Pizza.
“We’re excited to grow our incredible network of franchise partners who truly showed resiliency amid the pandemic as we remained open and operating as essential businesses to serve our communities. As a people-first organization, our success was as simple as prioritizing the physical and financial health of our team – franchisees, employees and consumers. We look forward to welcoming motivated franchisees to our team, who are eager to build and diversify their portfolios with a pizza brand rich in heritage and authenticity,” added Mike Fletcher, Area Representative for Marco’s Pizza.
Throughout the pandemic, Marco’s Pizza accelerated several innovations and pilot programs to pivot and lead decisively in the post-pandemic era. “Our strength, resiliency, and ability to innovate and adapt allows us to remain steadfast and focused on our growth,” said Ron Stillwell, VP & Chief Development Officer of Marco’s Pizza. “Whether it be the opening of our ghost kitchens across the country, the debut of a podular unit model, rapid adoption of third-party delivery, or the testing of robotic kitchen innovations – we’re committed to the future of Marco’s as we continue to push forward with new openings and signed agreements during this COVID era.”
Opening a new store every three and a half days on average, Marco’s Pizza projects to have 1,000 locations open by year-end. As the only national pizza franchise founded by a native Italian, Marco’s Pizza has carved out a niche in the industry for authentic Italian quality pizza, known for its fresh dough made daily onsite, a proprietary cheese blend that is fresh, never-frozen, and a secret original pizza sauce recipe from its founder Pat Giammarco.
*Based on the average unit volume of the top 50 percent of franchised stores for the fiscal year 2019. Based on fiscal year 2019, 127 of 291 franchised stores in the category (38 percent) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of the 2020 FDD – please refer to the FDD for complete information on financial performance.
ABOUT MARCO’S PIZZA
Marco’s Pizza is America’s Most Loved and Most Trusted Pizza Brand, according to the 2019 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco’s Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza companies in the United States. Marco’s was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale (“Pat”) Giammarco and thrives by making authentic Italian quality pizza with fresh ingredients. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate 950 plus stores in over 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Most recently, Marco’s Pizza was ranked No. 2 in the Pizza category on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2020 “Franchise 500” ranking, and No. 6 in the Largest Pizza Chain category on Restaurant Business’ 2020 “Top 500 Chains” ranking. Other recent accolades include ranking No. 4 in Forbes 2019 “Best Franchises to Buy” Small/Medium Investment, and ranking five consecutive years on Nation’s Restaurant News’ prestigious “Top 200” ranking.