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Feature Article, May 2005
Pizza And Partnerships
Famous Famiglia has teamed up with a number of strategic partners to grow its pizzeria franchise.
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Famous Famiglia has opened a location at the San Antonio airport.
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Aptly named Famous Famiglia is indeed famous for its New York style pizza. The company operates a chain of 40 pizza parlors, many located in New York City, but is gaining notoriety in major markets across the country, thanks to a consistent product and a string of strategic partnerships. Executive Vice President Paul Kolaj and his family opened the first Famous Famiglia in 1986 and formed Famiglia International in 2000. Last year, the company announced a joint venture partnership with the DeBartolo family. The agreement is part of DeBartolo's new business strategy of partnering with regional companies that have a strong business model but need assistance to grow nationally. The new company, Famiglia DeBartolo, LLC, is made up of the Kolaj and DeBartolo families and is based in White Plains, New York.
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Famous Famiglia at Newark Airport.
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“At a time when many of our competitors are facing very difficult times, financial and otherwise, it's very refreshing to have such a relationship in place,” says Famous Famiglia Executive Vice President Giorgio Kolaj. “The DeBartolo name, and the heritage, respect and history behind it, plays significantly with all that the Famiglia family represents. It's a very good marriage.” Famous Famiglia has a strong presence in several markets, including shopping centers, airports, hotels and casinos, universities, motorway travel plazas and theme parks, but sees significant promise in shopping centers, airports and universities, says Kolaj.
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Famous Famiglia's location on 50th Street in New York City.
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“Those three markets, in particular, have been extremely strong for us,” he says. “The way we approach the market is to select across those venues those locations where we believe the opportunity does justice to the brand and, conversely, the brand does justice to the location.” The university market continues to show growth with Famous Famiglia locations at the University of Pennsylvania, New York City's Columbia University, Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and two locations at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The newest university location, which opened at the beginning of 2005, is at 8th Street and Broadway in the heart of New York University's campus in downtown NYC. The company's newest airport location is at the JFK International airport's JetBlue terminal. The 362-square-foot kiosk is estimated to yield $2.5 million in annual sales.
The shopping center market has been, and still is, another strong segment of growth for the company. Famous Famiglia looks for locations in high caliber, marketable, brand named centers — mainly regional and super regional malls and lifestyle centers that have reputable and large anchors, high traffic and good demographics. The company also looks for visitors with high disposable incomes and who recognize the Famous Famiglia brand and the reputation that it has in the marketplace. Recent Famous Famiglia locations can be found at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas; Wilmorite's new expansion at Tyson's Corner Mall in McLean, Virginia; the new expansion project at NorthPark Center in Dallas; Taubman's Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina; Westfield's new redevelopment at Westfield Shoppingtown Franklin Park in Toledo, Ohio; Springfield Mall in Springfield, Virginia; and Simon's Bay Park Square in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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Famous Famiglia in Beachwood, Ohio.
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“Our typical approach is to cluster opportunities for ourselves, when we can, so we can realize the economies and efficiencies of scale,” notes Kolaj. “For example, we may approach a city or group of cities within a cluster through, let's say, the airports. We would then approach the universities and shopping centers, so we can have a group across a variety of venues.” The restaurants serve a wide variety of pizzas and toppings, as well as calzones, sandwiches and specialty dishes. While many Famous Famiglia locations offer dine-in service, others offer counter service only in high-traffic locations, such as airports and food courts. Consistency of quality is paramount to the business, so much so that the company has New York water, part of the original pizza recipe, shipped to every Famous Famiglia location across the country.
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The Famous Famiglia location at NYU in New York City (8th & Broadway).
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“People have now come to recognize the consistency of that quality,” explains Kolaj. “It's not easy, but it's a worthwhile effort.” The company currently has 40 restaurants in operation, with an even split of franchised versus corporate units. Moving forward, Famous Famiglia, which is the official pizza of the New York Yankees and the official pizza of Madison Square Garden, intends to play on its New York roots, scouting cities that know the Famous Famiglia brand.
“We're not growing fast or slow; we're growing appropriately, which means we're growing at a rate that is comfortable to us in the context of being able to manage our business,” says Kolaj. “Our goal is not to open thousands of stores, it's to open the right number of stores whereby we can control the quality.”
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Famous Famiglia at the O'Hare Illinois Tollway Oasis in suburban Chicago.
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In addition to maintaining quality, strategic partnerships are a cornerstone to Famous Famiglia's success. For example, the company has partnered with Delaware North Companies (DNC), who opened its first Famous Famiglia location at Memphis International airport in November 2004. With a number of key opportunities in the pipeline, Famous Famiglia is focused on going to market with several of DNC's divisions. Airline partnerships are another focus, with relationships with Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways. Other partners include Westfield Concession Management, MarketPlace Development and Unison-Maximus. Famous Famiglia has also partnered with Compass Group, the world's leading foodservice company with annual sales in excess of $18 billion.
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The Kolaj family at Famous Famiglia's location in Laguardia Airport, New York City.
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“From a practical model perspective, they are in a lot of the geographies or venues we either are in or want to be in,” says Kolaj, “such as airports, universities and travel motorway markets. We provide a proven brand with a proven track record that they can include in their portfolio, and they provide us values such as a global footprint. So in partnerships like this, it's a win-win-win situation — we win, the partner wins and, ultimately, the consumer wins.” — Susan H. Fishman
©2005 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
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