Lamppost Pizza: Local Player
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By Hanna Aronovich   
Friday, 02 May 2008
smc Lamppost’s menu focuses on pizza made with quality ingredients, as well as a selection of pastas, sandwiches and appetizers.
Lamppost’s menu focuses on pizza made with quality ingredients, as well as a selection of pastas, sandwiches and appetizers.
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Mid-sized West Coast chain Lamppost Pizza has positioned itself as a family destination, owner and President Tom Barro explains. The company was founded in 1976 by Tom and Dan Barro, and their father, Angelo Barro, and has grown into a chain of more than 40 restaurants operating throughout California, Nevada and Texas.

The company says its “innovative, creative, disciplined grassroots marketing coupled with superior products, friendly, neighbor-down-the-street service and a fun, family oriented atmosphere” have fueled its success. Lamppost Pizza says its mission is to be a family restaurant and neighborhood fixture. “If you’re involved in the community, you’re involved with Lamppost,” the company states.

The menu focuses on pizza made with quality ingredients, as well as pastas, sandwiches and appetizers. Pizza options range from traditional cheese, sausage and pepperoni to more sophisticated, specialty pizzas, such as chicken-topped pies.

Lamppost Pizza says its pizza and pasta dishes have won awards throughout the state of California in various community-sponsored tastings, such as best all-around pizza at the tri-county pizza tasting. “Quality ingredients, environment, people and service, combined with its extensive community involvement, develop significant loyalties for Lamppost with consumers in the markets it serves,” the company says.

Approximately 55 percent of the company’s business is through dine-in customers, while about 20 to 30 percent is carryout, and the rest in delivery.

Tom Barro says customers appreciate the neighborhood feel of Lamppost Pizza, which is why the dine-in business is so great. “We’re a comfortable place for our customers to call their own, a real neighborhood place,” he says.

Employing hands-on territorial managers and general managers who are active in the community helps foster the company’s relationship with the community. “Our franchisees are very in tune with their communities, and that’s usually why they are drawn to Lamppost,” Barro explains. “We get involved with local church groups, athletic groups and sponsor city events.”

Currently, there are about 37 franchised and four company-owned Lamppost Pizzas. “We like to maintain about a four-to-one ratio of franchised vs. company-owned restaurants, it usually fluctuates between four to one and 10 to one,” Barro explains. “The company-owned restaurants allow us to do some R&D and stay in tune with our customers.”

Traditional Tops
Although Lamppost Pizza offers an expanded menu – with items such as sandwiches, salads, spaghetti and appetizers – 70 percent of the company’s sales come from pizza.

Barro says traditional toppings remain customer favorites, although Lamppost Pizza isn’t shy about pushing the envelope. “We’ve been developing some specialty pizzas, such as Taco Pizza or the Creamy Garlic Veggie,” he notes. “And we were one of the first to offer chicken toppings for our pizzas.”

Sizing Things Up
As Lamppost Pizza continues to expand, it is seeking larger footprints for its restaurants. Barro says about 15 years ago, the typical Lamppost Pizza restaurant was 3,000 square feet. Today, the company looks for space in the 4,500- to 5,500-square-foot range.

“Our restaurants seat about 200 people, and we offer outdoor patio areas, which our customers like,” he explains. “We listen to our customers to deliver exactly what they enjoy. We’re usually in some kind of shopping center, but we do have some standalone locations. When opening a new restaurant, we look at where the activity in the community is and that’s where we try to be.”

Recently, Lamppost Pizza began opening a sister concept, Backstreet Brewery, adjacent to its pizza restaurants. Barro says finding qualified brewers was a challenge, but bringing award-winning brews to its customers has been worth the effort.

Backstreet Brewery brews ales and lagers in line with traditional brewing methods. The company says brewing small batches helps ensure freshness and quality.

New Model
Celebrating its 32-year anniversary, Lamppost Pizza keeps pace with changing times. The company is in the process of remodeling its older locations with modern décor. “Some of our stores have been around for 30 years, so for the last 18 months we’ve been going in and expanding and remodeling them,” Barro says. “In every store we’ve renovated, sales and volume have picked up. We have a solid group of franchisees, who are very much on the same page. We’re really proud of how well our franchisees and owners get along and work together to move the company forward.”

Lamppost Pizza plans to finish modernizing all of its locations and then branch into new areas, such as Nevada. Barro notes the company opened its first restaurant in Reno, Nev., last year. “That is the first store to offer video poker, and it’s been doing very well,” he says. “We’re always looking for ways we can deliver more.”
 
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