Romeo's Pizza has signed a senior master franchise agreement with Nawi Development Corporation to develop in St. Louis, Missouri. The agreement gives NAWI the right to open and develop 90 Romeo's Pizza restaurants throughout the territory. In addition, NAWI has purchased the rights to develop and sub-franchise 30 other major DMAs west of the Mississippi.

Sean Brauser, Founder & CEO of Romeo's Pizza, headquartered in Medina, Ohio, has positioned his company for explosive growth with this latest agreement. "We are excited about our partnership with NAWI and the development of the Romeo's Pizza brand throughout the United States. St. Louis is a great, hardworking, all-American city, and we are excited to bring the same economic development and jobs to the community as we have in our other cities," Brauser says.

Robert Wiesler, co-founder and chief operating officer at Nawi Development, is looking forward to working with Romeo's Franchise Corp., and especially with Sean Brauser and the entire Romeo's Pizza management team.

"The opportunity to grow and help develop the Romeo's Pizza concept throughout the western United States and the tremendous economic impact it will have on city, state, and local communities speaks volumes to Mr. Brauser's relentless commitment to growing Romeo's brand," Wiesler says. "In addition, the chance to create jobs and business ownership aligns the great Romeo's Pizza brand with NAWI Development Corp's passion for growing brands.

"This agreement allows us to explore other strategic franchise partnerships for the 30 DMA's East of the Mississippi as well," Brauser says. "Our goal is to have 500 Romeo's Pizza stores in the next seven to 10 years, and position ourselves as the premium pizza brand in the pizza industry through our relentless pursuit of customer loyalty and our overwhelming commitment to our product."

Starting with just one location in 2001, Romeo's Pizza currently has 31 locations throughout Ohio, including Cleveland, Akron-Canton, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Romeo's Pizza has won more than 20 awards for its pizzas, including The Best Gourmet Pizza in America with the Great Ranch & Potato Pizza, and The Best Pizza in the Midwest twice with the Butcher Shop Pizza. They have been featured on the Food Network and were named one of the Top 100 Pizza Companies In The Country by Pizza Today Magazine. Most recently, they were named The Best Pizza in Columbus for the second year in a row.