Marco’s Pizza, one of the nation’s fastest-growing pizza brands, closes out 2023 amid an impressive development year awarding 86 franchises and opening nearly 80 new stores. These achievements have set the stage for considerable expansion in 2024 with company leadership identifying more than 4,000 potential U.S. locations in addition to vast international opportunity that is catching the attention of operators and the investment sector looking to grow and diversify their portfolios.
Marco’s strategy continues to combine its renowned high-quality product that provides the basic foundation to scale, a strong business model, a knowledgeable leadership team, strategic partnerships, multi-channel national advertising, and a commitment to new technology and innovation – all to meet the needs of today’s modern customer.
Notable 2023 achievements include:
- Prioritization on product quality, innovation, and variety – including the launch of now permanent menu items Sausage Magnifico and Ultimate Magnifico, the addition of boneless wings, limited-time-offer Hot Honey Magnifico Pizza in collaboration with Mike’s Hot Honey, and the launch of the Pizzoli– a fully loaded handheld that is proving to be the strongest selling new item in recent brand history.
- Rollout of Marco’s Order Management System (MOMS), a proprietary 100% cloud-based technology platform customized, owned, and operated by an affiliate of Marco’s, which provides flexibility to franchisees.
- Growing leadership, with many with decades of experience in the restaurant, food, and quick-service space, including the newest addition of Denise Lauer as Chief Marketing Officer.
“Marco’s continues to prove itself as one of the fastest growing and most innovative pizza brands in the country with no intention of slowing down,” says Co-CEO & President, Tony Libardi. “We’re at the forefront as the industry continues to evolve with consumer needs and growing market changes. In the year ahead, we’ll continue to prioritize monumental growth, advancements in technology, and above all, our commitment to delivering a superior quality product and customer experience.”
Marco’s 2024 development strategy will center around multi-unit growth as leadership prioritizes franchisee relations and operational support with nearly half of its current franchise network comprised of multi-unit operators. Other key areas of opportunity lie in capitalizing on franchise growth in the nontraditional sector alongside international expansion, with near-term opportunities existing in the LATAM region and future sights set overseas.
As franchise development continues, leadership prioritizes a strong development support system, including technology and tools to help identify territories for expansion, plus support in real estate, construction management, field operations, and information related to financing. FRANdata, a leading research and advisory firm that analyzes the franchise market, reports Marco’s 2023 FUND Score of 895 is in the top 1% of all evaluated franchise systems and is among the top three scores for all quick-service brands.
The brand’s impressive performance has earned multiple awards and recognition: Ranking in Newsweek’s 2023 America’s Best Customer Service in the pizza chains category, earning a spot on QSR’s Top 50, and most recently claiming the No. 48 spot on Entrepreneur’s 2024 Franchise 500 ranking.
According to the brand’s Franchise Disclosure Document, the Top 50% of Marco’s franchised stores generated average net royalty sales of $1,222,684 during the 2022 fiscal year.
