Yummy article

1. f ra nchisor in depth
L i t t l e Ca esa rs
Little Caesars:
The Piz z a Empire
In 1959, Mike and
Marian Ilitch launched
Little Caesars in Garden
City, Michigan with one
location. Franchising
since 1962, today the
brand is the fastest
growing pizza chain in
the world* and the largest
carry-out pizza chain in
America.
Experiencing significant growth in sales
and store units between 2008 and 2012,
the famous five-dollar HOT-N-READY®
Franchising USA
pizza has helped Little Caesars earn the
title of “Best Value in America” for six
consecutive years.**
Mr. Ilitch, a former Marine and minor
league shortstop for the Detroit Tigers,
first became interested in the pizza
concept while traveling the country with
the Tigers. Recognizing the growing
demand for pizza, originally a snack food
introduced to North America by World
War II veterans returning from Italy,
Mike took the pizza path after an injury
prevented him from continuing to play in
the minor leagues. Leaving his athletic
dreams behind, Mr. Ilitch and his wife
pursued growing Little Caesars. Their
hard work led to building a successful
enterprise, which today includes ownership
of the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red
“There are a lot of families wa
value. If we can connec
passion for pizza and comm
Wings and Olympia Entertainment, which
together employ thousands of individuals.
Prior to Little Caesars, Mrs. Ilitch
worked in the airline industry. Leaving
her career to embark on a new path with
her husband, whom she often referred to
as her “Little Caesar,” with a combined
$10,000 in savings, the couple opened the
door to their first Little Caesars on May 8,
1959. “The pair complement each other;
Mike is a dreamer with a lot of ideas and
Marian offers a strong financial skill set,”
Bob Mazziotti, Vice President of U.S.
Franchise Development for Little Caesars
says.

2. concept in 2004 brought even more
national brand recognition, making Little
Caesars a strong player in the market.
“The fast-paced American lifestyle has
fueled growth with the HOT-N-READY®
concept, so we make sure we’re ready
when the customer is, and today the
customer is on the move,” Mazziotti
explains, adding, “People don’t have time
to be sitting around waiting for pizza to be
delivered.”
aiting for great pizza at a great
ct with a franchisee who has a
munity, it’s a marriage made in
heaven.”
Moving away from the snack category and
becoming a meal item in the early 1970s,
today pizza nights are a celebrated event
for families throughout the country. Little
Caesars is serving up the dish with fresh,
never frozen, mozzarella and Muenster
cheese, dough made fresh daily in the
stores and sauce made from California
crushed tomatoes.
Prior to 1979, Little Caesars offered a
broad menu including pastas, chicken and
fish. Later it began to focus on offering
incentives such as two-for-one pizzas,
affectionately known as Pizza!Pizza!®.
The introduction of the HOT-N-READY®
Little Caesars franchisees are
entrepreneurs who share a great work
ethic and a desire to follow a proven
system. Franchisees are involved in their
businesses and local communities and
come from all walks of life including
military veterans, small business owners,
and former employees of corporate
America looking for a change. Ideal
candidates are willing to develop a passion
for ownership of their business and
product, and are local to their community.
“Whoever the candidate is, it’s important
that he or she can develop a passion for
what pizza is and what it brings to the
community,” Mazziotti says. “There are
a lot of families waiting for great pizza
at a great value. If we can connect with
a franchisee who has a passion for pizza
and community, it’s a marriage made in
heaven.”
The process to become a franchisee
begins with filling out an application
and supplying supporting documents
to establish eligibility. Upon receiving
the Franchising Disclosure Document,
candidates can then start the due diligence
process, speaking with existing Little
Caesars franchise owners to learn about
the performance of the business and the
support provided to them. Attending a
Discovery Day in Detroit is next. Here,
candidates meet with key players, get
behind the counter and experience firsthand what it feels like to be a team player.
Once approved, franchisees make a
deposit on the franchise fee, which enrolls
them into a six-week training program that
covers the basics on how to operate the
restaurant, insights on human resources,
finances, marketing, and everything
else necessary to be a Little Caesars
franchisee.
“We want to be where the people are
who crave value and quality pizza
products, which is virtually everywhere,”
Dan Ducharme, Director of Franchise
Development explains. After their six
weeks of training and as franchisees return
to their market to seek out an appropriate
storefront, corporate assists them in
getting their site established. Leading up
to the grand opening, the new franchisee
will receive architectural support, help
with a floor plan, marketing plans, and
staff training. Ongoing training is also
provided to franchisees and includes
cash management skills and multi-unit
supervision advice, among other things.
The estimated initial investment required
per franchise location ranges from
approximately $221,290 to $653,540 for a
Franchising USA
f ra nchisor in depth
Page 87

3. f ra nchisor in depth
L i t t l e Ca esa rs
“There are a lot of families waiting for great
pizza at a great value. If we can connect with
a franchisee who has a passion for pizza and
community, it’s a marriage made in heaven.”
standard Little Caesars carry-out location.
Stores in the higher end of the range are
typically free-standing buildings, not strip
center locations. Of course, costs vary
on a variety of factors. (Item 7 of Little
Caesars Franchise Disclosure Document
provides additional information, including
assumptions.) Through the International
Franchise Associations’ VetFran program,
Little Caesars also offers various discounts
to military veterans on the franchise fee
and equipment.
Setting the company apart from its
competition is its national advertising
campaign featuring creative, attentiongetting commercials. “We have a great
national program and we support it all
with a local approach as well,” Mazziotti
explains, adding that while franchisees
are responsible for doing their own
local marketing, corporate takes care of
advertising at the national level, a factor
that benefits franchisees.
Franchisees also benefit from what the
brand represents. “The key is who we
are and what we offer. Being HOTN-READY®, we’re the best value in
America, says Mazziotti. “We get involved
with communities and when people see the
quality of our products and the value we
offer, it’s what makes us so appealing.”
Giving back to the communities in which
they do business is also important to Little
Caesars franchisees. The Little Caesars
Love Kitchen is one such initiative that
helps them do this. A pizza kitchen on
wheels, the Little Caesars Love Kitchen
travels across the continental United
States and Canada meeting the needs of
the hungry, the homeless and disaster
survivors.
To date, the Little Caesars Love Kitchen
has fed over two million people and an
estimated 50,000 Little Caesars franchise
owners and employees have volunteered
their time over the years to support the
Franchising USA
program in the communities in which their
stores do business.
The Love Kitchen has played a part
in providing meals to the victims and
first responders at various catastrophes
including the Oklahoma tornadoes, the
Katrina and Sandy hurricanes, and Ground
Zero in New York City. “We are where
we’re needed,” Mazziotti says. “With the
convenience of our product and unique
initiatives, we do what no one else does.”
In a new initiative to expand its growth
into attractive rural territories, Little
Caesars is now providing small town
entrepreneurs with the opportunity to take
the national brand into their communities.
“We’re looking to expand into small town
USA where families are waiting for a great
value and a great pizza,” Ducharme, says.
“When people are going to have a pizza
night, it’s not going to be a regular dinner,
it’s going to be a fun evening, a festivity,
and it’s going to be special. When an area
of any size has a good family base, it
means it’s usually a good area in which to
operate one of our stores.”
The secret behind the company’s
momentum is in both the product and the
business’ simple system. These factors
allow franchisees and their employees to
follow the model and provide great service
to customers to grow their business.
Through witnessing smooth transactions
and an effective business structure,
customers are often drawn to becoming
involved with the company and decide to
own their own Little Caesars.
“The last decade has seen sales and store
growth,” Ducharme says. “We’ve been
in business for the past six decades, our
business model is solid, we have ongoing
support for our franchisees, and we know
the key points as to where and what to
focus on in the future.”
* “Fastest growing pizza chain in the
world” based on the net number of stores
added 2008-2012
** “Highest-Rated Chain – Value for the
Money” based on a nationwide survey
of quick-service restaurant consumers
conducted by Sandelman & Associates,
2007-2012
For more information:
Website: http://franchise.littlecaesars.
com
Email: usdevelopment@lcecorp.com
Phone: 1 (800) 553-5776