Around 2010, elevated, fast-casual pizza was the new “it” thing. Concepts like Pieology, Blaze Pizza and MOD Pizza were all competing for market share — all around the same time.
“We were the hot chicken of the early 2010s,” said Pieology CEO Shawn Thompson.
Eventually, the brands would separate from one another, and a few pulled away from the pack in terms of unit count and same-store sales. But the other brands didn’t disappear.
“Each [brand] chose a different path as far as how they would grow, and all of us are kind of at an inflection point,” said Thompson.
Both Blaze and Pieology have named new CEOs within the past two years. The cofounder of MOD Pizza, Scott Svenson, remains that company’s CEO.
This change in leadership has reenergized Pieology, according to Thompson. Counter to the growth strategy that the brand previously had, Thompson paused franchising when he took on the role of CEO at the roughly 100-unit fast-casual chain.
This was a departure for the former president of Tim Hortons and director of operations for Tim Hortons’ parent Restaurant Brands International, who spent his career in the franchising world attempting to grow brands.
“It's very important to have the right brand to grow,” Thompson said. “We can't grow this brand yet until we fix the fundamentals.”
That’s what Thompson first conquered when he arrived. He’s spent the time since his January 2022 promotion revamping the entire menu.
“This launch has taken us over the past year, and the number of resources I threw at this thing to do this, brands of our size typically don't have,” he said.
That means changing things that customers had pointed out to the brand, like the switch from cup and saucer pepperoni to a more traditional pepperoni during the pandemic to cut costs. Thompson heard the outcry from loyal customers, including one of his RBI coworkers who was a fan of the brand, and changed back.
That wasn’t the only change Thompson made. He went back to basics by looking at the dough and the sauce. He started with the flour for the dough and, alongside expert pizzaiolo Vito Iacopelli, developed an entirely new recipe for the dough and sauce.
“When you're talking about pizza, that's about 90% of what goes on a pie, and we changed all of them over the past year,” he said.
The chef also worked with the brand to create new signature pizzas ranging from Mushroom Truffle Pizza to Calabrese Pizza made with Mike's Hot Honey. Pieology also introduced Garlic Cheese Bread along with the artisan pizzas.
Another change was the way pizzas were made. Around the time of the fast-casual pizza renaissance in the early 2010s, brands started implementing the pizza press for speedier assembly times along the makeline. Pieology did away with the pizza press for this menu revamp, which debuted earlier this year.
It’s been a change for customers to move to a more artisan approach to their beloved pizza, but Thompson said these changes are to improve the experience — all for around the same price.
“We believe in the long term,” he said. “We're going to attract a lot more of those guests we've lost over the years.”
Part of that long-term strategy is a new prototype with a smaller footprint, something Thompson has experience with.
At Tim Hortons, Thompson had the idea for the brand’s double drive-thru. This location was smaller than traditional units and could fit on a smaller piece of property since it was drive-thru only. That’s the same strategy Thompson took over to Pieology.
“I had always had a belief back then that smaller footprints were the way real estate was going,” he said.
For the brand’s new prototype, Thompson wasn’t even focused on the move to off-premises that customers have been favoring since the pandemic. He was focused on getting the most bang for Pieology’s buck at each location.
No locations are set to open with this format yet; it’s in the works. Thompson bought back several restaurants from a franchisee to turn them corporate. Those are the restaurants where the team is going to begin testing the new format.
“Once we do that and prove out a remodel, then I'll prove out the new operating model, then you can go out and franchise,” he said.