Latest news with #andpizza
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Boss of pizza chain admits prices are too high
When customers complained to a pizza chain that it was too expensive, you'd think the boss would fight back. But Mike Burns, CEO of &pizza, agreed, and yesterday he slashed prices and simplified the menu to win back diners. The chain, known for its oblong pies and bold branding, has dropped the price of its pizzas with unlimited toppings from to a flat $12. That's a drop from the previous $12.99 for specialty pies, plus $1.50 for each topping — or $13.99 for a build-your-own option that only included a few free toppings before extra charges kicked in. 'The restaurant industry has been nickeling and diming customers for years - including us,' Burns told 'We are stopping that. This is a permanent pricing strategy.' 'Previously one of our pies that was listed at $12.99 is significantly more expensive once you add additional toppings at $1.50 each. So in reality a $12.99 American Honey with, say mushrooms, was $14.49.' Knots, drinks, and cookies also got cheaper. Besides lowering prices, &pizza, which has stores in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, announced its plans to begin franchising in March. Customers who walk into a store may notice its knots side option costing $6. Before the changes, the chain's knots were offered at various prices typically ranging between $5.99 and $6.49. 'Our knot pricing was also all over the place and I couldn't tell you a good reason why — so now they are all $6,' Burns told Their cookies are now available to purchase for $1, a 50 percent decrease from its original price. 'We were selling them for $3.49, and 'selling' was a loose term, because nobody's buying a cookie for $3.49,' the CEO revealed. The company opted to expand its price decreases for both beverages and food. While keeping the $3.49 Coca-Cola price tag, &pizza decided to bring other canned sodas down to $2. Besides price dips, &pizza introduced a $7 half cheese pie and a drink combo meal, designed to increase foot traffic. Founded in 2012, &pizza aims to have 300 units by 2030. Its popularity in the East has inspired the chain to look into franchising locations in the DMV and Mid-Atlantic regions. 'The ampersand stands for unity and bringing communities together, and we feel like in order to do that, the owner of those restaurants has to live in those communities,' Burns told QSR . 'So if we're going to develop in El Paso, Texas, or Tallahassee, Florida, or Charlotte, North Carolina, the person should live in that market because they know the people, they know the area.' Burns credited the chain's franchising process as one of the reasons why they explored the possibility of price drops. 'We've had dozens of discovery days with potential franchisees, and across each a common question has been 'can we reduce pricing?' Or 'your pricing structure is too high.' So we listened,' Burns explained. There are no plans to open restaurants on the West Coast anytime soon, but the process itself has been moving faster than expected. 'It just shows that there's passion for the brand. We feel we're different than normal fast-casual pizza, but we hope that the people out there see that potential to grow their personal wealth,' the CEO added. &pizza's cost decrease comes after restaurant chains hiked prices for reasons such as inflation and tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. The financial strains have also taken a toll on business owners, including a Pizza Hut franchisee who put 127 restaurants up for sale last year . A &pizza competitor, Pizza Hut has suffered financial hits over the years and its same store sales shrank by 2 percent in the first three months of 2025. Several fast casual restaurants who weren't at risk of closures were found to have significantly raised prices over the last 5 years. Experts discovered that Waffle House increased prices by 96 percent . Its competition has also been financially strong, including CAVA, a Mediterranean 'Chipotle' set to open between 62 and 66 US locations this year.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Boss of giant pizza chain admits prices are too high: 'We just felt we were nickel and diming people'
When customers complained to a pizza chain that it was too expensive, you'd think the boss would fight back. But Mike Burns, CEO of &pizza, agreed, and yesterday he slashed prices and simplified the menu to win back diners. The chain, known for its oblong pies and bold branding, has dropped the price of its pizzas with unlimited toppings from to a flat $12. That's a drop from the previous $12.99 for specialty pies, plus $1.50 for each topping — or $13.99 for a build-your-own option that only included a few free toppings before extra charges kicked in. 'The restaurant industry has been nickeling and diming customers for years - including us,' Burns told 'We are stopping that. This is a permanent pricing strategy.' 'Previously one of our pies that was listed at $12.99 is significantly more expensive once you add additional toppings at $1.50 each. So in reality a $12.99 American Honey with, say mushrooms, was $14.49.' Knots, drinks, and cookies also got cheaper. Besides lowering prices, &pizza, which has stores in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, announced its plans to begin franchising in March. The restaurant chain lowered the prices months after announcing its plans to start franchising Customers who walk into a store may notice its knots side option costing $6. Before the changes, the chain's knots were offered at various prices typically ranging between $5.99 and $6.49. 'Our knot pricing was also all over the place and I couldn't tell you a good reason why — so now they are all $6,' Burns told Their cookies are now available to purchase for $1, a 50 percent decrease from its original price. 'We were selling them for $3.49, and 'selling' was a loose term, because nobody's buying a cookie for $3.49,' the CEO revealed. The company opted to expand its price decreases for both beverages and food. While keeping the $3.49 Coca-Cola price tag, &pizza decided to bring other canned sodas down to $2. Besides price dips, &pizza introduced a $7 half cheese pie and a drink combo meal, designed to increase foot traffic. Founded in 2012, &pizza aims to have 300 units by 2030. Its popularity in the East has inspired the chain to look into franchising locations in the DMV and Mid-Atlantic regions. 'The ampersand stands for unity and bringing communities together, and we feel like in order to do that, the owner of those restaurants has to live in those communities,' Burns told QSR. 'So if we're going to develop in El Paso, Texas, or Tallahassee, Florida, or Charlotte, North Carolina, the person should live in that market because they know the people, they know the area.' Burns credited the chain's franchising process as one of the reasons why they explored the possibility of price drops. 'We've had dozens of discovery days with potential franchisees, and across each a common question has been 'can we reduce pricing?' Or 'your pricing structure is too high.' So we listened,' Burns explained. There are no plans to open restaurants on the West Coast anytime soon, but the process itself has been moving faster than expected. 'It just shows that there's passion for the brand. We feel we're different than normal fast-casual pizza, but we hope that the people out there see that potential to grow their personal wealth,' the CEO added. &pizza's cost decrease comes after restaurant chains hiked prices for reasons such as inflation and tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. The financial strains have also taken a toll on business owners, including a Pizza Hut franchisee who put 127 restaurants up for sale last year. A &pizza competitor, Pizza Hut has suffered financial hits over the years and its same store sales shrank by 2 percent in the first three months of 2025. Several fast casual restaurants who weren't at risk of closures were found to have significantly raised prices over the last 5 years. Experts discovered that Waffle House increased prices by 96 percent. Its competition has also been financially strong, including CAVA, a Mediterranean 'Chipotle' set to open between 62 and 66 US locations this year.
Entrepreneur
27-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How &pizza's CEO Is Staging a Comeback for the Brand
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When Mike Burns became CEO of &pizza, he arrived on his first day ready to get to work. There was just one problem: No one told him there wasn't an office. "I show up in D.C. and I'm like, Where do I go?" he recalls. "They send me to an address. It's just a restaurant." But Burns wouldn't want it any other way. "Kind of the beauty of &pizza [is] it's all about the restaurant," he says. "The people. The vibe. You can't get that in an office." But what he walked into wasn't a thriving brand in need of just a few tweaks. Operations were inconsistent, culture had slipped and a once-passionate customer base had drifted. So he did what any rational new CEO would do. He got a tattoo. Years earlier, &pizza had launched a promotion offering free pizza for a year to the first 100 people willing to tattoo the brand's signature ampersand on their body. What once seemed like a one-off publicity stunt became something else when Burns brought it back. The first day, 2,700 people signed up. "And that's when I knew," he says. "The brand still had it. People weren't just customers. They were believers." Burns rolled up his sleeve and got the tattoo himself on his forearm, which is hard to miss. The loyalty went beyond ink. Some fans had even tied the knot at &pizza shops — literally. On Pi Day (March 14), the brand hosted weddings where couples tied dough knots and enjoyed pizza. "People have met at &pizza, gotten engaged at &pizza and gotten married at &pizza," Burns says. "It's more than food. It's a culture." Related: This Chef Lost His Restaurant the Week Michelin Called. Now He's Made a Comeback By Perfecting One Recipe. Rebuilding from the inside Of course, no number of tattoos or weddings could fix slow ticket times or a fading sense of purpose. Burns focused on two things: culture and performance. The first step? Clearing out much of the upper management and promoting from within. "I don't care about resumes," he says. "I care if you know how to run a line at midnight." He hired a VP of operations with sleeve tattoos to match the brand's vibe and elevated district managers who had started as pizza-makers. Suddenly, the leadership wasn't observing the frontline; it was the frontline. The team brought back the loud music, sharpened food quality and leaned into the company's most irreverent instincts. Exhibit A: the Dickle, a dill pickle pizza named when a supply chain manager misspoke in a meeting. "We had mascots running around D.C. handing out free Dickle pizza," Burns says. "Abe Lincoln with a Mohawk. Ben Franklin with a neck tattoo. It was chaos. But the right kind." Burns structured his executive team like a modern basketball lineup: no rigid positions. Titles existed, but the HR leader also ran marketing stunts. The IT head pitched in at ops conferences. Burns himself stuck to T-shirts and backwards hats, signaling to franchisees that &pizza wasn't returning to corporate formality anytime soon. Their first leadership meeting turned into a tense argument. Burns took it as a good sign. "In basketball, until a fight breaks out in practice, you're not ready to play," he says. "Same goes here." The moment that convinced Burns to take the job wasn't a boardroom pitch. It was a conversation with a bartender who noticed his &pizza shirt. "Best f***ing pizza in D.C.," she told him. "But it's lost its edge." That was the truth. And honesty, Burns believes, is the most valuable currency in hospitality. "We lost our way before Covid-19," he says. "And during Covid? Forget it. But when almost 3,000 people signed up to tattoo your brand on their bodies? That's not nostalgia. That's a second chance." The second chance is paying off. Customer traffic is climbing. The team's back-of-house fixes, from food quality to ticket times, are holding strong. And the energy that built &pizza's cult following in the first place has returned. "We're not trying to be safe," Burns says. "Safe pizza doesn't get tattoos. Or host weddings." Related: How a Spot on 'The Montel Williams Show' Sparked a Restaurant Power Brand for This Miami Chef About Restaurant Influencers Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point-of-sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience. Toast — Powering Successful Restaurants. Learn more about Toast. Related: A Loyal Customer Asked Him to Cater One Event. Now, He Runs More Than 1,000 a Year.
