For pizza franchisee, even the recession had a silver lining

Describe your business.

Founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale (“Pat”) Giammarco, Marco’s makes authentic Italian pizza with quality, fresh ingredients. The franchise recently reached its 700th location and is on track to hit 1,000 locations in 2017, growing with an average of a new store opening every third day. Additionally, Marco’s Pizza was ranked No. 2 on Forbes’ list of Top 10 Franchises to Invest In in the medium investment range, so we love being a part of such a phenomenal franchise family.

What makes your pizza shop unique?

Marco’s has three unchanging standards in place at every location, every day, to ensure quality. Our dough is made fresh in the stores daily and we have a proprietary sauce recipe that blends imported spices and three types of vine-ripened tomatoes. We also use an exclusive blend of three fresh cheeses.

Your business has grown quickly and you’re planning on opening more businesses in the next five years. To what do you owe your success?

For us it was all about perseverance. We had a vision of what the growth of Marco’s Pizza would look like in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the economy took a major hit in the third quarter of 2008 and took almost five years to recover. Walking away was simply not an option, so instead we embraced the challenge and took a step back to rethink our next steps. This setback gave us the chance to envision something greater than what we first imagined. During the economic downturn, we tightened our expenses, and as we emerged from the recession, the cost-saving measures we implemented allowed us to maximize our profitability, thereby facilitating growth at a rapid pace.

Talk about your experience with Opportunity Village.

We have partnered with Opportunity Village for their bi-monthly dances. When we opened our most recent location, we donated $4 from every pizza sold to Opportunity Village.

What’s the most important part of your job?

The most important part about running this franchise successfully was building our team. When team members know and like each other, they are more likely to work well together. The development of good relationships in the workplace can improve morale, as team members become friendly and look forward to spending time with one another while they do their jobs. When team members are engaged, they will share our vision and goals and will be less likely to seek employment elsewhere. This outgoing, friendly attitude carries over to customer service as well. Great employees are the key to a great business.

What obstacles have your business overcome?

In 2008, we opened two locations within a month of each other. We didn’t have the human capital in place at the time, but were trying to get locations opened quickly, so we learned the hard way that having the human capital is just as important as having the financial capital.