Today’s world economy, due to the rapid expansion of the free market capitalistic model, has become a beneficial environment for the young entrepreneurs who are willing to get their small and medium sized enterprises off the ground. On the one hand, unlike previously, people have all the opportunities to launch a successful business from scratch with minimum financial and human resources. On the contrary, such an explicit market opportunity creates an extremely competitive environment, making it barely possible to stay relevant in the field for a long time in order for the enterprise to pay off. Moreover, the variety of options presented by the business owners has gradually increased customers’ expectations from the service. Such an issue is especially relevant in the food and restaurant industry, as it is one of the most rapidly growing business segments all over the world.
Previously, the presence of a free market implied explicit competition of large-sized food chain enterprises aimed at monopolizing the sector, leaving behind small yet authentic food places. However, over the last years, there has been a major shift toward prioritizing non-mainstream places to eat due to a change in overall social culture and habits. As a result, big restaurant chains were forced to modify their approach to the service patterns, as the food industry was no longer preoccupied with the quickness and availability of goods. Instead, the emphasis was placed on the business’s unique history, service peculiarities, and authenticity. One of the few chain enterprises that managed to successfully pass the threshold of a new social paradigm is Marco’s Pizza restaurant network, which was initially focused on the unique customer service and renowned brand identity.
To begin with, Marco’s Pizza is one of the most popular pizzeria networks in the United States, having stores in 35 states, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico. The pizza place started its journey in Oregon, Ohio, in 1978 by a native Italian, whose purpose was to provide Italian-quality foods for the American residents (“About Marco’s,” 2020). Born in the family of a restaurant owner, Pat Giammarco was surrounded by a gourmet food culture from the very childhood. Thus, even after moving to Toledo, Ohio, he was determined to proceed with the business of his father, giving people the pleasure to taste delicious Italian food. The end of the 20th century was marked by the business owners’ interest in providing mass products that would secure quick quality. However, despite the competition in the market, it was never Giammarco’s intention to gain profits through a well-developed business plan. Pat aimed at winning his customers’ respect and faithfulness by providing them with the best ingredients and authentic service.
Nowadays, many enterprises pay decent attention to the brand identity of the restaurant in order to create a strong positive image among their customers. While preserving the brand is of vital importance for any business, many owners tend to overlook the main purpose of any food place – providing people with a delicious and high-quality meal. In the case of Marco’s Pizza, the priorities set was never misinterpreted since the network’s founding almost half a century ago. Some restaurant critics claim the chain stores to have discrepancies in terms of food presentation and overall interior design of the place, which nonetheless does not affect the equally high quality of food. In fact, this slight disruption in interior consistency has now become a positive feature of the place, making customers treat the stores as authentic pizzerias instead of paying attention to the artificially created brand. However, modern brand design has eventually become rather homogenous due to its development as a successful franchising company.
Speaking of franchising, Marco’s Pizza is now one of the most widespread franchisers in the pizza industry in the US, helping hundreds of small enterprises obtain guidance and support in their business while securing stable profit and teamwork. The history of the brand establishment traces back to 2002 when Pat Giammarco agreed to hire a notorious industry expert, as a consultant in order to get some assistance in handling the business development. After obtaining franchising rights of the company in 2004 and assuming full-scale responsibility for the pizzeria, the expert managed to make Marco’s Pizza a nationwide brand with numerous professional awards. As a result, many smaller enterprises expressed the desire to cooperate under the brand’s guidance, as there were keen on the idea of quality and authenticity pursued by the management.
Initially, Marco’s Pizza, just like all the other pizzerias, was a take-out place with no sitting places for a dine-in. However, since the network’s rapid expansion across the state in 2004, stores are now equipped with a full-scale dining area and convenient delivery service. Since the expansion, the company started to pay much attention to the quality standards in the workplace, accounting not only for the ingredients’ safety but for the staff’s morale and overall stores’ cleanliness. For this reason, Marco’s Pizza is notorious for its human resources management patterns that include teamwork encouragement and dedication to quality customer service.
When speaking of Marco’s Pizza menu and food options, the exquisite taste of the pizza presented by the network should be mentioned in the first place. From the very place emergence, Marco’s Pizza gained a competitive advantage by introducing an exclusive pizza sauce created by the Giammarco family. The unique flavor of the pizza topping is not the only attractive feature in Marco’s Pizza menu. Although it goes without saying that the menu options include positions besides Italian pizza, the place still manages to keep its focus on the meal everyone keeps coming back for. In fact, many pizzerias in the industry fail to remain authentic due to their desire to attract as many customers as possible, constantly adding menu items to the assortment, turning the pizzeria into an average European cuisine restaurant. Marco’s Pizza, on the other hand, successfully combines both options, having an extensive menu with options for kids and vegetarians while making sure the place still specializes in Italian national cuisine and pizza, in particular.
The final yet quite important benefit of the franchise concerns the price politics of the place. In order to obtain a better perspective of the costs, the average price for a pizza should be considered, as it remains the most significant item on the menu. Thus, the cost of pizza varies between $10 and $20, with an average price of pizza within the industry constitutes $14-15. Although some people might claim Marco’s Pizza to be considerably more expensive than other food chains, it should be emphasized that the following pizzeria network guarantees fresh, quality ingredients and extraordinary taste for just a few dollars difference.
Reference
About Marco’s. (2020). Web.