Marco's Pizza Franchise

Veteran Development Team Acquires Franchising Rights to Marco's Pizza; Poised For Growth and Doubling Number of Units

Thursday, 06 December 2007 03:02

TOLEDO,OH. ---Marco’s Pizza, a 26-year-old, 123-unit pizza chain based here, is poised to double its Midwest presence in major markets such as Cleveland and Dayton, OH, Fort Wayne, IN, Southeastern Michigan and elsewhere, according to its new President Jack Butorac, Jr., who acquired the franchising rights to Marco’s and is leading a veteran team of franchising growth experts in the renaissance at Marco’s.

“We have a great product, we have great service, we have a great name, very strong brand image and solid unit economics, “Butorac said. “That is a recipe for more units and growth for Marco’s Pizza.”

Butorac,a resident of Louisville, KY, is a former president/CEO for Tumbleweed Southwest Bar & Grill Mesquite Restaurants and a former executive with Chi-Chi’s Restaurants and Fuddruckers, all concepts that experienced fast growth.

Butorac has assembled a team of franchising veterans since acquiring the franchising rights to Marco’s from its founder Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco, who remains with the organization in concept development. The new Marco’s Team includes:

• Michael Schlafer, vice president of marketing and former marketing official with Tumbleweed and KFC during those organization’s growth years.
• Ken Switzer, vice president/chief financial officer, who has been with Marco’s since 1986.
• Michael Jaynes, area operations vice president. He is a 15-year veteran with Marco’s.
• Jock Moell, vice president-operations. He has 25-years experience with Marco’s in operations and as a franchisee.
• Bryon Stephens, former vice president of franchise development for A&W Restaurants and Long John Silver’s (Yum!, which acquired the brands in 2002). Both systems grew dramatically during that period.
• Jim Strachan, franchise director, and former director of franchise sales for Yorkshire Global Restaurants, parent company for A&W Restaurants.

According to Butorac, his immediate development plans call for growth in existing Midwest markets including 100 more units in Ohio, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Michigan plus other selected markets.

“We are convinced we have the team in place to grow this regional chain to a national level,” Butorac said.

Marco’s currently has 123 units in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana and offers a variety of custom made pizzas, submarine sandwiches and soft drinks. There is additional information on Marco’s at www.marcos.com.