Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream always works to make sure guests are smiling, giving them all the pizza and ice cream needed to make happy memories. In the first quarter of 2024, the team at Happy Joe’s got to smile — thanks to industry awards, new stores, growth and expansion, partnership and innovation, industry coverage, and big plans for the rest of the year.
Happy Joe’s kicked off the year by partnering with CORE raising funds to support the restaurant 501(c)(3) charity that is focused on taking care of the Children Of Restaurant Employees www.coregives.org by contributing $1 from every Chocolate Chip Pizza Cookie sold in January and February.
Coming right out of that “happy” initiative, Happy Joe’s was informed that it was being ranked in Pizza Marketplace as one of the Top 100 Movers & Shakers and also made the Top 25 overall out of 75 top brands ranked in the entire pizza industry. It marks the second year in a row that Happy Joe’s was recognized for excellence compared to the thousands of pizza brands operating in the U.S., Canada and around the globe. In addition, Tom Sacco, CEO/President & Chief Happiness Officer, ranked as one of “the Top 15 Pizza Executives in the U.S.” for the second consecutive year.
Growth was also on the menu with Happy Joe’s breaking ground at its newest freestanding location of the year in Navarre, Fla. This restaurant is set to open towards the end of Q3 and will feature Happy Joe’s brand new prototype with an excellent curb appeal featuring modernized furniture, a pizza drive-thru, neon signage, and much more that its customers will love.
The expansion of the brand continued with the signing of an area development agreement that plans for six new Happy Joe’s locations in Minnesota’s Twin Cities area. These restaurants are scheduled to be open by late 2024 or early 2025, and interested franchisees should contact Kat Davidson at KatD@drhnow.com.
With all this growth, upgrading to the latest technology is essential to keep providing the best possible guest experience. That’s why Happy Joe’s partnered with ORCA, the innovative restaurant inventory management software that enables the brand to continue providing high-quality food for its customers and maximize economies of scale and efficiencies for our franchisees.
Happy Joe’s has plenty of goals for the rest of 2024, with various plans for further growth and innovation. The brand has several new franchisees signed, including in Fargo, North Dakota, and a suburb of Phoenix, AZ. In Q2, the team is testing out a robot, www.bearrobotics.ai, that will deliver food into the dining room and bring the bus tubs back to the dish room, so the front-of-the-house staff never has to leave the guests in the dining room without being attended to by a real person.
“You can see the passion for pizza and creating happy memories for our guests in everything our team does,” says Sacco. “Introducing more people to our brand by opening restaurants in new markets, creating new menu items, implementing new technologies — it’s all part of our mission to make our customers smile!”
