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Firenza launches national expansion plans

Firenza Pizza announced it plans to open as many as 15-20 new restaurants in 2016, and approximately 20-30 annually thereafter.

November 11, 2015

Firenza Pizza announced it plans to open as many as 15-20 new restaurants in 2016, and approximately 20-30 annually thereafter. Anchored by a team of franchise executives with more than 100 years of restaurant business development experience, Firenza officially launched its franchise opportunity in September, according to a company press release.

"The hottest trend in fast casual is no longer burritos, freshly baked sandwiches or even gourmet burgers," said Dave Wood, Firenza co-founder. "The key to fast growth in the otherwise stagnant restaurant industry is fast casual pizza and we’re confident that we have what it takes to become the segment leader."

Along with long-time business partner and Firenza Co-founder Dave Baer, Wood owned and operated 17 Domino’s franchises throughout Northern Virginia before opting for retirement and selling them in 2012. However, boredom soon got the best of him and he decided to launch a pizza concept of his own, the release stated. Wood and Baer have opened their first two restaurants in Fairfax and Alexandria, Virginia.

Firenza specializes in hand-crafted and made-to-order pizzas. Customers may choose from nearly 40 toppings — six signature sauces, seven cheeses, nine meats and 17 vegetables — and watch their pizzas assembled. For customers who don’t want to create their pizzas from scratch, Firenza also offers eight signature pizzas. Each pizza takes approximately 3-4 minutes to bake in an open-flame, stone-hearth oven.

"Unlike most other fast casual pizza chains where the crusts are premade and machine-pressed, our pizza dough is made in house daily and hand-stretched to order right in front of the customers," Wood said.

Once the pizza dough is stretched, customers can customize their pizzas with unlimited toppings for one price. The cost of a pizza with cheese and one topping is $6.99. Pizzas with more than one topping is $7.99.

Other menu items include oven-baked wings, meatballs and custom salads. Beverages include beer and wine, Mexican Coca-Cola and Coke freestyle fountain drinks.

"The fast casual pizza boom was the talk of the industry in 2013, and the buzz has only grown louder," Baer said. "55 percent of pizza consumers now purchase fast casual pizza at least once per month, and Firenza is looking to capitalize on this growing demand and multiply across the country."

To augment the company’s growth, Firenza is currently seeking both single- and multi-unit franchisees. Area-developer agreements are also being granted to franchisees that meet Firenza’s guidelines. With a franchise fee of $40,000, the total investment to own and operate a Firenza franchise is approximately $400,000-$500,000.

"When the 'stars align' and franchisees can take over an existing space with reusable infrastructure, the total investment can be as low as $250,000," Baer said.