Blaze Pizza is taking advantage of pizza’s hot streak during the pandemic to expand into new markets like California and Alaska. The fast-casual pizza chain just announced two multi-unit franchise agreements that will expand its West Coast footprint, though Blaze is looking to sign franchise agreements and open up new shops in all 50 states, the company’s chief restaurant officer Rick Gestring said.
“I'm probably most pleased with how when we go to a market where we haven't been before, [we see] the acceptance of fast-casual pizza that’s something different than the big box pizza places,” Gestring told Nation’s Restaurant News. “Where people can really enjoy a really great pizza, culinary driven, delivered consistently in a great way.”
But expanding the brand’s physical footprint is not the only growth goals Blaze has: Gestring’s team also is working on a digital footprint reinvention as well. In September, the brand relaunched its mobile app and customers can now see their pizza getting made, in recreating that in-store experience digitally.
But that doesn’t mean every technology trend is right for Blaze:
“We look at technology in a cautious way,” Gestring said. “[…] We’re making sure we do the things that we do really well and don't get too far off-track and understand that [certain] technologies may or may not work for us.”
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