Papa John's Pizza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Papa John's Pizza | |
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| Type | Public (NASDAQ: PZZA) |
| Founded |  Jeffersonville, Indiana |
| Headquarters | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Key people | John Schnatter, Founder |
| Industry | Food Wholesale |
| Products | Pizza |
| Website | www.papajohns.com |
Papa John's Pizza (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the third largest take-out and delivery pizza restaurant chain in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza. It is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Papa John's slogan is "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." There are nearly 2,100 Papa John's stores in the U.S., over 200 in the UK, 30 in China, over 15 in Canada, and stores in 20 total international markets.[1][2]
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History
The founder of Papa John's, John Schnatter, began his pizza career at Rocky's Sub Pub in Jeffersonville, Indiana while attending Jeffersonville High School. John graduated from Jeffersonville High in 1980, and continued his association with the pizza business while attending Ball State University, working as a delivery driver for Greek's Pizzeria in Muncie. Upon graduating, he began working for his father, who was co-owner of the bar Mick's Lounge in Jeffersonville. In 1984, he sold his car to buy out the other owner of the bar, and started serving pizza to customers. Business started picking up, and soon enough Mick's Lounge was converted entirely into the first Papa John's restaurant.
The corporation credits its growth to great customer service, quality products, and menu simplicity, in contrast with other chains' focus on low prices. Pizzas failing to garner an eight on a ten point scale are discarded.[citation needed] Fewer options in crust styles and side dishes simplify inventory management and are meant to allow greater focus on what options there are.
Papa John's have added thin-crust and pan pizza options, each with its own twist: the thin crust has been advertised as crispier than others (similar to St. Louis-style pizza) and the pan has a "Robusto" sauce with chunky tomato pieces and more vibrant spice notes. To further simplify in-store operations and to provide product consistency between stores, many functions such as dough production are carried out by an off-site commissary system similar to that of most other fast food chains.
Lawsuit
In 1997, Pizza Hut sued Papa John's over its "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." slogan, based on a series of advertisements that compared the ingredients of Papa John's and its competitors. At trial, the court agreed with Pizza Hut's argument that Papa John's slogan did not constitute statements of literal fact – that "fresher ingredients" do not necessarily account for a "better" pizza. (Papa John's did indeed prove in court that it uses fresher ingredients.[citation needed]) This ruling was overturned in 1999 when Papa John's appealed the decision.
LeBron James controversy
During a playoff basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards on May 2, 2008, Wizards fans were given t-shirts (sponsored by Papa John's) that read "Crybaby 23", directed at Cavaliers' star player LeBron James. This action was not sanctioned by the Papa John's corporation, and was conducted by a Papa John's franchisee, who incorrectly thought Papa John's did not have franchises in the Cleveland-Akron area.
On May 8, 2008, to apologize to Cavaliers fans, Papa John's offered large single-topping pizzas for 23 cents (with a limit of one pizza per person per visit) at all Greater Cleveland locations, as well as locations as far west as Toledo and as far south as Columbus. 23 is the number that James wears on his jersey. Papa John's also donated $10,000 to the Cleveland Cavaliers Youth Fund.[3] The chain sold over 172,000 pizzas at 23 cents a piece, and lines outside of some stores took as much as three hours to get through.[4]
Business ventures
Papa John's primarily takes carryout and delivery orders, although some stores have tables and chairs. Papa John's offers online ordering throughout the United States, automatically assigning all registered customers to the closest location.
The structure of a Papa John's restaurant is typical of that seen in many fast food outlets, with a salaried store manager presiding over day-to-day operations, and several salaried or hourly assistant managers and shift managers presiding over in-store and delivery team members. Above the store management is an area supervisor who is generally supervised by a franchisee or; in corporate stores, a director of operations reports to an operational vice president.
Franchise stores owners pay a 5% of sales to Papa John's International, a portion of which is used for advertising and support. Corporate operations looks over franchisees to ensure brand consistency.
As of January 2003, there were 2,787 Papa John's restaurants (591 company-owned and 2,196 franchised) operating in 49 U.S. states and nine international markets. Papa John's International is a publicly traded company, with 30% of shares owned by John Schnatter.
Papa John's became one of the first major pizza chains to include a dipping sauce with every original crust or square pan pizza, as well as a pepperoncini pepper, a traditional Italian garnish.
In January 2002, Papa John's became the first national pizza chain to make online ordering available to all of its U.S. customers.[5] Most other national chains subsequently added online ordering to their services.
On March 30, 2006, Six Flags announced that it will sell only pizza from Papa John's at its parks. In turn, Six Flags will receive an annual sponsorship and promotional opportunities from Papa John's. Papa John's is also the official pizza supplier of the Olympic Speedskating Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. On November 16, 2006, the company signed on with ESPN Regional Television to become the title sponsor of an annual college post-season football bowl game in Birmingham, Alabama.
Other trade names
- Papa John's operates under the company name "Papiano's" in the East Lansing, Michigan area, home to Michigan State University. A pre-existing local chain of pizza restaurants in this area already laid claim to the name "Papa John's" before the major chain was formed.[citation needed] The "Papiano's" franchise closed in 2008.[citation needed]
See also
- Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, a football stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville bearing the company's name via a naming rights agreement
- PapaJohns.com Bowl, an American college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama every December
References
- ^ The Papa John's Story. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
- ^ ?.
- ^ [http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/05/papa-johns-lebron-james-crybaby-shirt-controversy-means-cheap-pizza-for-clevelanders.html Papa John's LeBron James 'Crybaby' Shirt Controversy Means Cheap Pizza for Clevelanders]
- ^ Papa John's Serves up 23 Cent Pizzas
- ^ USA: Papa John's first pizza chain to offer nationwide online ordering. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
External links
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