New Pizza venture, can't lose but i have questions

[WhistlerPIZZAlove]

Hello,
I'm a newbie here and i want to thank any help in advance.

My Story in a nutshell....

I own and operate a multi- restaurant delivery service in a resort Town in Canada. Been doing it for 10 years and I do well with it and i know delivery and the market intimately. 65% of my total sales are from the local pizza places where 80% of those sales are to tourists. I have an opportunity to open a take-out pizza and Chinese operation with a good location with lots of foot traffic. There is about 800 sq feet of space and the idea is to create 2 distinct businesses with its each distinct brand side by side with my call center moved there as well so i can manage the whole ball of wax.
Essentially, I can turn key the venture with 300k per year in delivery sales alone from my present delivery service infrastructure. So, without further marketing this new venture could break even from the get go. Of course I will have an aggressive marketing plan for the new venture that will sling profits real quick. I will have a partner who has ran successful local pizza restaurants in the past and this person will get the menus and recipes perfected and I will then manage and operate the whole show. This all sounds win-win to me and I am real close to sighing a deal but I have questions?

Pizza Style – locally there is a Dominos, a dominos spin-off joint, a thick airy crust take-out place and Boston Pizza and they all deliver. There is a Pizza Hut but only for take-out in a local grocery store. Dominos are insanely busy and have the pizza segment here wrapped, in the off-season they do about 100 deliveries per night and up to 250 deliveries a night in the peak season. So, I’m going after a piece of the Dominos Pie, a large piece. I want to sell the most delicious Pizza set at competitive prices to Dominos so I can achieve a local following or local love for my Pizzas.
I’m thinking of Sicilian Style square pan pizzas with thin crust available. Delicious, different and very marketable that will fill a niche I think.

Questions?

What do you think of the of Sicilian Style square pan pizzas idea?
Does this type of Pizza do well commercially?
Should I consider a different type of Pizza for my market?
How do square slices sell? (They can be sold cheaper for the broke ski bum crowd.)

What North American pizza trends are doing the best ATM?

I need volume so it seems a conveyer double tier oven is the ticket, how will a Sicilian pizza do in this type of oven?

Comments on the conveyer pizza oven?

General Comments and ideas?

More questions to come if that’s okay?

Many thanks and I’ll be a regular poster here now and help as much as I can. I am a graphic designer and marketing guru so feel free to pick my brain if you like for ideas for your Pizza biz.

[Pete-zza]

In parallel with your post here, if you haven't already done so you may also want to pose your questions to the members at the PMQ Think Tank at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewforum.php?f=6. The members there are pizza professionals and they are used to tackling questions like yours, although there are only a few active members from Canada who are likely to be the most familiar with the Canada pizza market. You will have to register to post at the PMQTT.

Peter

[scott r]

Sicilian will definitely have a much lower food cost, but you should consider a high end wood burning oven equipped pizzeria.  I think that is a more lucrative alternative to dominos. Also don't underestimate the profitability of a bar!

[WhistlerPIZZAlove]

Sicilian will definitely have a much lower food cost, but you should consider a high end wood burning oven equipped pizzeria.  I think that is a more lucrative alternative to dominos. Also don't underestimate the profitability of a bar!

Wood burning pizza oven is out of the question, Got limited hooding in place for the woks only, has to be conveyer oven dble stack electric (its included in the lease if you can beleive that), 1 for the pan pizza and the other for the gourmet thin crusts. Space is also limited. Haven't got into the actual food cots yet, curious how the Pan pizzas food cost will be lower?

[WhistlerPIZZAlove]

Wood burning pizza oven is out of the question, Got limited hooding in place for the woks only, has to be conveyer oven dble stack electric (its included in the lease if you can beleive that), 1 for the pan pizza and the other for the gourmet thin crusts. Space is also limited. Haven't got into the actual food cots yet, curious how the Pan pizzas food cost will be lower?

Electricity is oncluded in the lease)

[pcampbell]

Wow... and you are going to use electric ovens?     I imagine you could do some serious damage on the electric bill that way!

[WhistlerPIZZAlove]

Wow... and you are going to use electric ovens?     I imagine you could do some serious damage on the electric bill that way!

Yeah, and its included in the 4k per month lease!!! I would rather have the deck but from a businees stand point it doesn't make sense, transient seasonal staff, high volume = inconsistant pizza, tons of spillage and customers waiting over an hour for delivery. We will just have to tweak, adjust test and retest until we get it right.

We have decided on a double stack conveyor, the big ass one! Upper deck for Gourmet thin crust, lower deck for Pan Pizza with a med crust.

[WhistlerPIZZAlove]

Yeah, and its included in the 4k per month lease!!! I would rather have the deck but from a businees stand point it doesn't make sense, transient seasonal staff, high volume = inconsistant pizza, tons of spillage and customers waiting over an hour for delivery. We will just have to tweak, adjust test and retest until we get it right.

We have decided on a double stack conveyor, the big ass one! Upper deck for Gourmet thin crust, lower deck for Pan Pizza with a med crust.

i welcome any offers for a new/used one, need to cook 2 -16'ers side by side or 2 15' square side by side

[papajgirl]

I work at Papa John's.

We had a Papa John's here last year, but the previous owners hired someone who embezzled them out of THOUSANDS of dollars in food and cash, so it closed.

Now, it's been back about 5 months and doing well.

So far, our manager has basically just been watching Domino's ads, and on nights that we're slow, offering specials that outprice Domino's coupons.

Papa John's has a good pizza product...it's "similar" to Dominos as far as crusts and the like (though I've always liked Papa John's better)...and what we serve are:

1.  Hand Tossed Pizza (and actually HAND TOSSING them)
2.  Thin Crust
3.  Square Pan Pizza
4.  Breadsticks/Cheesesticks
5.  Hotwings/Chicken Strips
6.  Soda

I find that if you offer a good base product, people will come...even if there is a big calling of another "big wig" near by.

I would suggest some surveys of what people "look" for in a pizza and pizza restaurant, and see if that can help give you any more clues as to what you need to do.

You need to know your competitor, and obviously it sounds like you do...but you've got to know everything they offer, what times they offer, what their coupons are, etc.

Then, your menu can be better planned to the desires of the customers.

Just all food for thought...

[t_tazino]

As a former chef and resident of the Vail/Beaver Creek Colorado area, I can tell you the key to success is capturing the locals!  If you win their hearts and cater to them specifically (at first), the tourist will follow.  I can't tell you how many times I was asked "where do you order pizza from", from guest at the hotels or on the lift chair!   

I would use Pazzo's Pizza in Vail as an example.  They were a "locals" only pizza eatery for a year or two and now they have several locations through out the Valley.  They have become somewhat of a sensation.  They don't have any real different pizza's, they just serve it fast and hot.  They appreciate the townspeople and get to know them by name. 

If you're doing a delivery only, it's a bit different, but if you've been in the Whistler area for a while, use that to your advantage.  Use your connections and maybe deliver a few pizza's a night to the various hotel front desk staffs...they'll be your biggest fan's and point everyone your way. 

With regard to Pizza types/styles...different isn't always better, better is always better!  A square, oval, round, trapezoidal...doesn't matter if it's good! 

Overall, my advice would be, If you can embrace the local scene, you create an almost cult like following and you'll have solid business during the off season as well.  I'm sure you've thought of this in your marketing efforts, I just thought I'd mention it.

Keep us all informed...it will be exciting to know how it works out.  And besides, we're (me and about 10 other college buddies) planning on skiing Whistler in February of 09, if things are running well then, I'll be calling for some pizza's!! 

Best to you.