In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, chats with Jamie Cecil, vice president of franchise development for Mellow Mushroom.

Mellow Mushroom started in 1974 and has grown to 160 units. The brand is known for its cool vibes. Each store is unique.

"I like to call them kind of unicorns. There's not one store that looks alike, which is kind of fun, but it makes it a challenge as well. But every store has phenomenal pizza and great service. That's the goal," Cecil said.

Cecil brings more than 30 years of restaurant industry experience to the table.

"There's not a day that's like any other, I like that," he said. "So one call, I'm talking to a person that wants to do five stores. Next, I'm talking to a city about getting some variances. Next, I'm talking to a construction guy about some issues on a construction site. So it really has taken everything I've done throughout my career and kind of packaged it in one role. And I enjoy it. It's a fun, fun role to be a part of."

Finding the perfect piece of real estate is the greatest challenge for the brand. That's changed over the years, and a standalone building in the right location sets the tone for a town.

"Today's franchisee is more sophisticated than they were in the past. They're a lot more educated and they they've done a lot of footwork or groundwork on their own before they reach out to you," Cecil said. "So they kind of already have an idea of what they want to do. Whereas back then, they would just reach out and, let's do this. And that cycle was pretty quick. Now they want to visit with franchisees. They want to talk to franchisees. Obviously, Discovery Day is critical in our world, too. And they want to meet the executive team. They want to meet with the CEO and ask them questions about where they see this potential business going in the next five to10 years."

To learn more about Mellow Mushroom's franchising and how the brand plans to grow in a tight market, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Bryan Ketelhut, vice president of franchise and business development for Little Caesars.

Ketelhut has been with the company for years and now heads up domestic franchising. He's also a former franchisee himself.

Little Caesars is known for its streamlined operations. From a development perspective, that simplicity makes the brand more attractive to prospective franchisees compared to more complex QSR models.

"We focus on value, quality and convenience. That is our is our big messaging, right? We created Hot-N-Ready over 20 years ago, and we've always been a value brand. We cater to that value consumer," Ketelhut told Detwiler during the interview.

The brand has its own supply chain with more than 20 distribution centers around the country.

"Having that controlling the distribution channel as well is very important to a lot of franchises. When we're able to purchase food products or equipment wise more in bulk, we're able to keep those costs lower for our for our partners," Ketelhut added.

To listen to the podcast in its entirety, click the link above.

In episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Joe Carlucci, founder and owner of Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Alabama. Carlucci, who has dozens of years in pizza, is a member of the World Pizza Champions and a leader in the industry.

Carlucci opened Valentina's, named after his daughter, in the midst of COVID. Prior to that, he'd owned a pizza food truck and would take it to neighborhoods to provide pizzas to neighborhoods during the COVID lockdowns. He would sell more than 500 pizzas a week, and saved every dime to open his brick-and-mortar restaurant.

What started in a 1,500-square-foot space with 12 employees has turned into a 196-seat, 50-plus-staffed full-service restaurant. The original location was across the street from a cotton field. Carlucci would arrive at 4:30 a.m. and make pizzas throughout the day. He's since moved to a larger location and has trained a handful of pizzaiolos whom he trusts to make the brand's signature pies. He sources as much as he can locally.

Carlucci has entered and won several awards at the International Pizza Challenge at International Pizza Expo. When he creates a new pizza, though, it isn't with judges in mind — instead he thinks about the customers first. But when his pizza creations win awards, he puts them on the menu. It's been a great advertising outlet for Carlucci.

Carlucci hired a mixologist to pair signature cocktails with his artisan pizzas, so there's a craft cocktail list, and curated beer and wine lists.

"I want to elevate this place. I don't want it to just be a pizzas place. ... It's not a pizza place. From the hostesses dresses to the bartenders in bow ties, to every single server, looks the exact same way," Carlucci said. "The standard is the standard here. We're not worried about what everybody else is doing. We're worried about what Valentina's is doing. How Valentina's could be better."

To learn more about how Carlucci is changing the pizza game, listen to the podcast in its entirety.