Marco’s Pizza™, one of the fastest-growing pizza franchises in the country, is poised to open its 1,000th store by the end of 2017. The Toledo-based delivery pizza franchise opened 116 stores in 2015, and is expecting to open another 150 in 2016.
“This is a really exciting time at Marco’s,” says Marco’s Pizza Vice President of Franchise Development Cameron Cummins. “We are on track to become one of the top five largest pizza franchises in America, and customers are opting for better quality pizza with real, fresh ingredients.”
Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Marco’s #95 on its prestigious Franchise 500 list in 2015; Franchise Business Review included Marco’s on its annual Top 200, a list of the best systems for franchisee satisfaction; Nation’s Restaurant News ranked Marco’s 144 out of its top 200 restaurant chains, and also as the eighth-fastest-growing chain in 2015; and Marco’s was ranked 12th on the Top 100 Pizza Companies in the United States by Pizza Today magazine in 2014.
Marco’s Pizza prides itself in making the best delivery pizza money can buy. Marco’s pizza is handmade in the Italian tradition, using fresh, never-frozen cheeses, making the dough in stores daily and using only premium meats and vegetables. Founded in Toledo in 1978, Marco’s is the only Top 20 pizza chain founded by a native Italian.
Unlike competing chains — such as Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Domino’s and Little Caesars — who have limited availability, Marco’s Pizza has plenty of prime territories available for entrepreneurs.
“We aren’t tapped out like our competitors,” says Cameron. “There is so much room left for Marco’s to grow. We have many regions available for multi-unit development. We compete well against other national delivery pizza brands – customers can tell the difference and if they try our pizza, they stay with us.”
Marco’s thrives on its product quality
When our guests order a Marco’s Pizza, they know they will be getting the best. We make our pizza dough in each store from spring wheat flour, specialty filtered water and high-quality yeast. We then add our tasty sauce that was developed by our founder and his father, made from specially grown hybrid tomatoes and proprietary spices. Our pizzas are then topped with a blend of Wisconsin cheeses, chopped fresh vegetables and premium meats.
“Almost half of our franchisees were consumers first; 100% of the people in our organization are here because they love our product,” says Cameron. “If you serve a great tasting pizza the business will follow. In our industry, you are only as good as your last pizza, and our customers keep buying from us because our pizzas taste better.”
A key component of Marco’s Pizza’s success is the excellent systems we have developed to ensure that every pizza, sandwich and salad we make is consistent across our network of franchise locations. Our customers will always get the same high-quality menu items every time they order, wherever they are. That develops trust and customer loyalty, prompting them to return again and again.
We continue to help franchisees as they grow. Our executives, area representatives and existing franchisees are readily available to support franchisees and answer any questions they may have.
Eric Bueter, who has nine Marco’s Pizza locations in Northern Ohio, says there are great people in the Marco’s organization.
“You can pick up the phone and talk with the owner of the highest-volume store in the chain if you want to. You can talk to franchisees that own multiple stores. I encourage new franchisees to call the Marco’s veterans. They’ll stop you from making tons of mistakes. How many companies can you pick up the phone and be able to talk to just about anybody you need to?”
Learn more about Marco’s Pizza
For in-depth details about the Marco’s franchise opportunity, download our free franchise report. You can also learn more by visiting our research pages.
