Our first ghost kitchen opens in L.A. Could this be the future of pizza franchising?
In the heart of one of the top restaurant cities in the world, a Marco’s Pizza franchisee has opened the brand’s first ghost kitchen test concept— a shared space that leverages third-party delivery providers, which saves on operational and overhead costs of a traditional location.
This concept aligns to consumers increased preference for contact-free delivery options during a pandemic, and dovetails nicely with long-standing consumer trend toward convenient food delivery.
For franchisees, a ghost kitchen can present cost savings on several fronts.
“There’s no storefront. You don’t see us,” franchise owner Michael Goetz told LA Downtown News about his location that opened May 4. “The concept is going to be the wave of the future. It’s the epicenter of technology. Ordering from a third-party app makes it more feasible and reasonable for a franchisee, who has costs associated with a storefront. It’s just genius. I’m jealous I didn’t come up with it.”
Pizza franchising innovation
Two more Marco’s ghost kitchens are planned for the Houston market.
“We just have to continue to find ways to exploit what we do best and continue to innovate on what we do to outpace what the others will need to do to stay relevant,” COO and President Tony Libardi told QSR magazine recently.
While other restaurants are struggling to maintain business during the pandemic, the pizza industry has been thriving. Marco’s Pizza experienced record sales during the past few months as public demand for deliver-done-well has increased.
Learn more about Marco’s franchise
If you’d like to learn more about the franchise opportunities with Marco’s, we welcome you to fill out the form below to download our free Franchise Information Report.
