The Dayton area is not alone in its growing enthusiasm for all things pizza. Nationwide, according to PMQ Pizza Magazine and RestaurantData.com, there was a record number of pizzeria openings as of Nov. 1, 2013, and pizza store openings have increased by an average of 13 percent per year since 2011, industry research suggests. About one out of 10 of all restaurant openings in the U.S. are now pizza concepts, according to RestaurantData.com research.
In its most recent report on the pizza restaurant industry, Los Angeles-based IBISWorld, an independent industry research firm, estimated that revenues at pizza restaurants would grow an average of 2.9 percent a year through 2017, to a total of $49.5 billion. And in its year-end analysis of the pizza industry, Nation’s Restaurant News wrote that, “If there was one restaurant niche that stood out in 2013, it was fast-casual pizza, a space that has attracted a significant number of serious, deep-pocketed players — and it’s expected to continue to expand into 2014.”
On a single day less than two months ago, three regional chains — Dewey’s Pizza, Godfather’s Pizza and Jet’s Pizza — all confirmed new Dayton-area restaurants were in the works. Dewey’s announced it will open its second local restaurant in the Austin Landing development in Miami Twp.; Godfather’s confirmed its third local location in Miamisburg near the Dayton Mall; and Jet’s Pizza said it will open its fourth area location in Huber Heights in May or June.
The 3,700-square-foot Dewey’s Pizza restaurant will seat about 90 and will employ 45. Construction is expected to start in May or June, with a projected opening sometime this fall, Eric Kohl, regional partner for Cincinnati-based Dewey’s Pizza, said last week.
“Dayton is a great market for us,” Kohl said. “We’d love to open a third location here, although where and when are still to be determined.”
Nebraska-based Godfather’s Pizza, which operates restaurants in Centerville and Huber Heights, will open a third location at 291 N. Springboro Pike (Ohio 741). It will seat about 60 people and will employ about 40, according to Jeff Jacobs, district manager, and Chuck Winters, the franchise restaurant’s owner. Both men say plans call for additional Godfather’s locations in the Dayton area.
Michigan-based Jet’s, with pizza shops in Washington Twp., Springboro and Beavercreek, will open a fourth location at 6241 Old Troy Pike in Huber Heights, and Pete Marrocco, co-owner of the Dayton-area Jet’s franchise shops, says he also is still looking for additional locations in the region.
What’s behind the Dayton area’s appeal to pizza chains looking to expand? It helps that Dayton is a college town, with a core group of consumers in just the right age range for prime pizza appreciation. And pizza chain officials also point to the region’s neighborhoods densely packed with single-family homes — a plus for pizza chains that focus on delivery.
But that doesn’t mean our region is a slam-dunk. Some competitors that tried to crack the Dayton market have closed most or all of their stores here. Romeo’s Pizza, based in Cleveland, predicted in early 2012 it would have five franchise-owned stores in the region by now, but closed its two existing stores later the same year and has not returned. A franchise owner of Noble Roman’s in 2007 envisioned 30 Dayton-area stores that did not materialize.
Kettering-based Cassano’s Pizza King, which is celebrating its 60th year in business and which operates 34 stores in the region, has seen its share of competitors come and go in six decades, according to CEO Vic Cassano III.
Cassano has seen a common pattern when regional competitors move into the Dayton pizza market. They make quite a splash when they first open, and sales at nearby pizza restaurants, including Cassano’s own stores, suffer for a few months, Cassano said. But after that initial run, the competitors’ sales slow, and Cassano said his restaurants’ sales recover nicely.
“When regional players go outside their footprint, it becomes very difficult,” Cassano said.
Like its competitors, Cassano’s isn’t standing still. The chain is scheduled to break ground this week on a 2,400-square-foot stand-alone restaurant that will replace an existing carryout-only shop at 6308 W. Third St. in Jefferson Twp. The new restaurant will seat 68 and will include a pickup window.
LaRosa’s — the Cincinnati-based pizza chain that, like Cassano’s, is celebrating its 60th anniversary — already has a strong presence in the Dayton-area market, and last week named a franchise team that will open the first LaRosa’s in the Columbus area later this year. Michael LaRosa, the chain’s CEO, said plans call for expanding in the Knoxville, Tennessee area as well.
But the chain will keep its expectations in check in both of the new markets. “We’re going to be careful that we don’t overbuild the stores,” LaRosa said in an interview last month.
Even more competition may be on the horizon, both in this region and elsewhere. Already, grocery stores have grabbed a slice of the pie: two Dorothy Lane Market grocery stores now cook up specialty pizzas for shoppers to take home hot. And according to Nation’s Restaurant News, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced a partnership with the creators of Pizzeria Locale, a full-service pizza concept. One new fast-casual pizza restaurant has already opened in Denver, with two more planned this year. And Sbarro has launched its mall-store pizza restaurant concept called Pizza Cucinova with two stores in Columbus, and has a third in the works in Cincinnati.
Sbarro, which recently filed for reorganization bankruptcy, has “no immediate plans” to open a Dayton-area restaurant, company spokesman Jonathan Dedmon said last week.
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