Toppers Pizza
Editor’s Choice 2008
By Fernie Tiflis   
Monday, 01 December 2008
smc Toppers makes 5,200 pizzas a day at its 20 locations across the Midwest.
Toppers makes 5,200 pizzas a day at its 20 locations across the Midwest.
Although its big-name competitors are geared to attract families, Whitewater, Wis.-based Toppers Pizza targets college students. Chains such as Domino’s, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Little Caesars dominate the pizza industry, but Toppers President Scott Gittrich says the 17-year-old company is less than intimidated.

“[The large chains] really are often referred to as the Wal-Mart of the pizza business,” Gittrich states. “Even though people spend money on their businesses, [customers] don’t get excited anymore. Toppers’ stores have fanatics – we have that brand loyalty.”

Toppers makes 5,200 pizzas a day at its 20 locations across the Midwest. It is adding eight more stores this year, opening several locations near college campuses in Iowa City, Iowa; Champaign, Ill.; East Lansing, Mich.; West Lafayette, Ind.; and the Milwaukee metro area. Toppers’ competition, Gittrich notes, is homogenized.

“Their products are all very similar in pricing and they all market to families,” he says. “Our marketing is more fun, we connect to our customers on a personal and emotional level. “We're open until 3 a.m. [or] 4 a.m., seven days a week.”

In 2008, Toppers launched the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Mac and Cheese Pizza and the “BL Frickin’ T,” its version of a BLT pizza. “The Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Mac and Cheese Pizza have become really popular right off the bat,” Gittrich says. “They are the kind of products that people are receptive to when we put them out there.”

Another big initiative Toppers undertook is online ordering, which started in August. In its seventh week, just under 8 percent of all orders came from its Web site, Gittrich notes. “It continues to climb,” he states. “We expect it to be over 10 percent of orders before the end of the year.” By 2009, he expects it to jump to 20 percent. As Toppers continues to grow, the company is planning to open four more stores by the end of January 2009.

Toppers Pizza by the Numbers
  • 750,000 – Total number of pizzas sold annually
  • 33 percent – Represents of the total House Pizzas Toppers sells, of which Mac and Cheese pizza stands for 7 percent and Buffalo Chicken Topper pizza represents 8.2 percent
  • 500,000 – Total orders of Topperstix. Topperstix comes in orders of eight or 24
  • 9.5 million – Number of individual Toppetstix consumed by customers
  • 2,100 miles – Length if each stix were lined up from end-to-end


Lessons Learned
Toppers Pizza has managed to grow despite the weak economy. “Our expansion has been aided by the availability of real estate and good pricing,” Scott Gittrich explains.

“On the other hand, lenders obviously have tightened their requirements financially in the last year. This year we are opening eight stores; next year, four to six stores.”
 
Toppers has a new prototype store, which will be built in East Lansing this winter. This year was a good time to focus on the basics, Gittrich notes.
 
“More than ever, we are committed to being the best at what we do,” he states. “We focus on fast delivery time, good products, and we have been picky about who represents us – our front-run employees. It’s all about focusing on the basics in this tough economic condition.”

–This story originally ran in the fall issue of Food and Drink. 

 
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