COLUMBUS OHIO. Wendy’s following his successful tenure growing Bojangles’, has pledged to give a downsized Donatos Pizza the largest franchise boost in its 44-year history and biggest growth push since it was owned by McDonald’s. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Drury, who sold his controlling stake in the 386-unit Bojangles’ chicken chain last month after running it as chief executive since 2001, still owns 90 Wendy’s units through a trust and once was the No. 3 burger chain’s operations vice president and a protégé of its late founder, Dave Thomas. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Drury this month indicated he might back 134-unit Wendy’s franchisee J. David Karam of Columbus, Ohio, in a possible bid to acquire Wendy’s and block the owner of Arby’s from doing the same. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
But even as Drury was shifting gears from his stint with Bojangles’ and considering a buyout of Wendy’s, he has been plotting a Donatos comeback. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Columbus-based Donatos signed Drury and two partners to a pact calling for their newly formed Piedmont Pizzeria LLC to open 60 fast-casual/takeout pizzerias—a switch from the chain’s old casual-dining model—over the next five years in North Carolina and South Carolina. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The Charlotte, N.C.-based Piedmont trio, including Glenn Gulledge and Mark Ourant, already have opened their first Donatos, in Waxhaw, N.C., a Charlotte suburb, and have signed deals for several more locations. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“We will move quick on it,” Drury vowed. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Drury, an Ohio native and long-time Donatos fan, said the time was right for him to become a franchisee of the chain, in large part because of his favorable impression of a new generation of leadership by the founding Grote family, who bought Donatos back from McDonald’s Corp. nearly four years ago. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Jim Grote, who launched Donatos in 1963, had indicated that the burger giant’s ownership proved to be a double-edged sword—his chain grew from 143 units at the time McDonald’s bought it in 1999 to its high-water mark of 200 pizzerias in 2001, but then collapsed to 182 branches by the time it was sold back to Grote in December 2003. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The apparently too-rapid growth push with a larger prototype backfired, and Donatos ended up shuttering all 23 expansion units in Atlanta and others elsewhere. Three branches that McDonald’s opened in Germany also were shed at Grote’s request in connection with the buyback, he said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Donatos, currently with 173 outlets in seven states from Ohio to Florida, now “has stability, great food, a great look and a passionate leadership team who want to grow it the right way,” Drury said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
He said he was especially impressed that Grote and his daughter, Jane Grote Abell, who was promoted last spring to president of the chain, remain at Donatos’ helm. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“Jane is one of the main reasons I signed up,” Drury said. “Donatos is in her heart.” —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
In addition to the new leadership, Donatos has implemented a smaller-store design, opened a $5.5 million dough commissary and bakery, expanded its menu, and revamped its logo, among other overhauls. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The chain’s ability to win favor with Drury and his partners has given Jim Grote a burst of confidence that other new franchisees will be won over to the Donatos brand. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“There has never been a better time for us to franchise,” said Grote, who is the chain’s chairman and chief executive and who grew Donatos with only limited reliance on franchisees. Only one-third of the pizza chain, which also has outlets in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, is franchised, he said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“We have not gone out and actively franchised before—that’s new,” he explained while citing changes since the McDonald’s era aimed at streamlining operations and boosting customer appeal. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“We are making a better product, but making it simpler, and we have more variety on the menu,” Grote said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
His key managers include Craig Burt, vice president of operations; Tom Krouse, chief concept officer and a former McDonald’s executive; Jamie Davis, who heads franchise business development; and Tom Santor, Donatos’ director of marketing. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The executives now have their sights set on surpassing the 200-unit record Donatos reached in 2001, before McDonald’s suddenly put the brakes on growth after sales at the large full-service pizzeria it favored faltered. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Building smaller outlets with lower investment costs, as Donatos now is doing, make more sense, Grote explained, because only about 10 percent to 15 percent of customers are dining in the restaurants. Adding pickup windows to new stores has worked well, since most customers order pizzas either for carry out or delivery, Grote said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“We learned a lot from McDonald’s about pickup-window efficiency,” Grote said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The smaller stores cost about 50 percent less to build and 30 percent less to equip and furnish, marketing chief Santor said. Each branch is capable of producing the same quantities of products in a smaller, more efficient kitchen with fewer crew members at off-peak times, he explained. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Donatos’ current restaurant model includes an open kitchen, an element of the original concept that had been changed over the years. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“We’re going back to our heritage of customer interaction,” Krouse said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Seating in the typical new unit has been halved from between 80 and 90 people to only 40 to 55 people, Santor said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
“With so much off-premise and drive-thru, we don’t need all the interior seating,” he said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Donatos style of service also is transitioning from full-service to fast-casual. Guests at newer restaurants order and pay at the counter and seat themselves before being served. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Operations also have been simplified and products made more consistent because of the commissary, where pizza crusts are proofed, frozen and boxed for shipping to the restaurants, which formerly did their own dough preparation. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Donatos has tested six new products so far this year: four variations of fresh-mozzarella pizzas, a calzone-like rolled stromboli, and the Entrée Chicken Harvest Salad with apples, blue cheese, honey-roasted pecans, cranberries and bacon. The salad and the stromboli were retained on the permanent menu along with the Margherita Pizza, topped with mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, basil and a Tuscan cheese blend, and the Fresh Mozzarella Trio Pizza, with pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage and basil. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Donatos executives said same-store sales so far this year have risen in “single digits,” but they declined to state specifics or project systemwide sales for 2007. However, the average sales transaction has risen from $16.50 in early 2005 to $18.07 today, the company said. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
Sales last year were said to total $174 million, with average-unit volumes estimated to be in the $1 million range. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring
The downsized, fast-casual design also will be used in Ohio for eight Donatos under construction and six more branches planned there by the Viking Group of Dayton, led by Todd Rogers; Breaking Bread Pizza of Toledo, led by Tom Dumit; and new franchisee Roger Howard, formerly corporate operations manager for the chain’s 60-store Columbus market. —Chain veteran Joe Drury, while eyeing a role in acquiring