Marco’s Pizza, one of the nation’s fastest-growing pizza brands, projects to reach $1B in annual systemwide sales in 2022, after closing out 2021 with robust systemwide growth and store-level performance. The 1,000-plus unit brand plans to grow to 1,500 units by 2023 with more than 200 stores in development today. All this as the brand closes out a record-breaking sales year and continues to experience double-digit same-store-sales increases year-over-year. Marco’s believes this performance makes it America’s fifth largest pizza brand, as it sets its sights on being No. 4.
“The success we’ve seen is the result of a collective effort of the incredible franchisees and team members at the store level who deliver on our brand promise each and every day, our committed Support Center, our loyal guests and the executive leadership team,” says Tony Libardi, Co-CEO & President of Marco’s Pizza. “There’s never been a more opportune time for both existing and prospective franchisees to grow with Marco’s. With plenty of territories available for growth, our development and performance strategy remain centered on finding multi-unit franchisees who align with our business strategy and culture, while continuing to prioritize innovation and maximize unit-level profitability.”
Marco’s is investing millions of dollars in technology innovations through the next few years as it grows to be the fourth largest brand in pizza. At its 2021 Franchise Convention, CXO Steve Seyferth and CIO Rick Stanbridge discussed how Marco’s is navigating this digital world and exploring technologies that create a better customer and employee experience while at the same time helping to improve store-level profitability.
Marco’s has been pushing forward several innovation initiatives and pilot programs, including rapid adoption of third-party delivery plus utilizing AI for voice-to-text ordering and generating automated promise times. It pushes to test robotic kitchen innovations, ghost kitchens, new operational equipment, and even simulated a drone delivery.
In addition to innovation, Marco’s continues to invest in building its brand through a multi-channel national advertising program while highlighting its quality product and value offerings. The brand’s creative platform centers on the tagline, “Pizza Lovers Get it” – as the brand has seen that their customers share an inordinate amount of love toward Marco’s compared to customers of their competitors. The brand kicks off 2022 highlighting its signature Pepperoni Magnifico pizza, topped with approximately 75 slices of crispy Old World Pepperoni® and classic pepperoni, a generous dash of romesan seasoning along with its signature fresh, three-cheese blend and original sauce.
Marco’s consistent performance, coupled with high-tier franchise support from the executive leadership team, many franchise owners themselves, resulted in eager and sophisticated entrepreneurs and multi-unit operators flocking to the franchise opportunity. According to FRANdata, a leading research and advisory firm that analyzes the franchise market, Marco’s 2021 FUND Score is in the top 1% of all evaluated franchise systems and is among the top three scores for all quick-service restaurant brands. The Top 50% of Marco’s franchised stores generated $1,059,574 AUV for 2020.
