What goes 'round in Triangle is pizza

There's something about a family-friendly, budget-friendly, gooey pizza that is appealing to diners and would-be restaurateurs alike.

With a shaky economy and a surge in bargain-hungry consumers, more entrepreneurs are jumping into the pizza fray, and many are targeting the Triangle for expansion.

Some are locals just setting foot in the pizza world. Others are experienced restaurant operators from other parts of the country who are bringing their chains here for the first time.

It's easy to see what draws them to both pizza and the Triangle. This area is full of foodies and folks who can afford to eat out.

In 2010, U.S. sales of pizza topped $29.7 billion, up a solid 4 percent from the year before.

With the five biggest chains - Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesars and Papa Murphy's - accounting for 26 percent of total pizza establishments, there's room for smaller chains and independents to thrive.

Still, there's no guarantee of success.

The restaurant business is notoriously difficult, and setting your pizza apart among $5 and $10 pies can be tough. Plus, competition is fierce, from established local joints to the big chains and their massive advertising budgets. Rising costs for tomatoes, cheese and gas for deliveries are eating into profits.

But Troy Harrington, who just opened a Pizza Inn on Duke Street in Durham with business partner and friend Mike Cotton, said the pizza business really boils down to one golden rule: "If you find the need and fill the need, you'll be successful."

Despite the appeal, getting into the pizza business is not an easy decision.

Mark Chesson and Jamie McCaskill are Raleigh lawyers who have known each other since elementary school. They recently opened a Hot Box Pizza franchise on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. It is the chain's first location outside of its home state of Indiana.

Neither Chesson nor McCaskill has any restaurant experience beyond waiting tables in college, but they've put about $450,000 into starting the business.

"It's a little more intense when it's your dollars that are at stake," he said.

Both work in estate law - McCaskill at Kilpatrick Stockton and Chesson for Hill Chesson and Woody, a firm his father helped found. In addition to their day jobs, they're each putting in about 15 hours a week at the restaurant.

To make up for their own lack of time and their lack of expertise working in restaurants, they made it a high priority to hire a manager with that experience and a passion for the business. To attract the right person, they opted to offer about 10 percent more than the average pay for such a job.

Once they'd whittled their candidate list to five people, they flew in the president of the company to help them during the final round of interviews.

"He was able to ask very specific questions that we didn't know to ask," Chesson said.

While the proximity to N.C. State offers a built-in base of pizza-loving college kids, the university's summer break starts soon. Chesson said he's hoping to attract other customers through direct mail marketing and by using his late-night delivery - until 3 a.m. on weekends - as a draw.

"We've got to make it through the summer," he said. "Once football season starts in the fall, Hot Box will "become that destination place where you want to watch the game and stay for a few hours."

Now was the right time to make a big gamble, Chesson said. Both he and McCaskill are 30, unmarried and with no kids.

"Our moms think we're crazy," he said. "We consistently remind them that we're going to be a success."

If they are, the potential is huge. The duo owns the Hot Box Pizza franchising rights for the entire state. Eventually, there could be 20 to 30 Tar Heel locations, though Chesson said he expects to focus on the Triangle first.

The hardest part so far: learning that what's happening in the restaurant affects the balance sheets Chesson sees in his office.

"Say your food costs are high," he explained. "That jumps out at you when you look at the sheet. But you don't know if that's high but the food that cost you that money is sitting in your walk-in. If it is, then your food costs could be lower next week."

That's a tough thing for restaurant owners new and old, especially with rising food costs and higher gas prices, which affect the price of just about everything.

Dee Dee Stanley's family operates Triple S Foods, a company that franchises locations in Fayetteville and Raleigh for Marco's Pizza. So far there are four in Fayetteville, one in Raleigh and three more in the works in the Triangle. Stanley's husband also operates a few Taco Bell restaurants.

The food business may be under more pressure but it can still be rewarding, she said.

"Sometimes you do run higher food costs, but you just run an efficient store," Stanley said. "It makes the bottom line a little bit smaller. But we never think it will last that long."

Franchising

For some, franchising is a slightly safer way to get into the pizza business. Working with an established company provides some security and a network of resources and experience to draw from.

Harrington and Cotton, who opened the Pizza Inn in Durham, spent months researching a chicken wing restaurant but in the end franchised with Pizza Inn. They talked to other franchisees, got advice and traveled to Texas for a month to work in an already operating restaurant.

"We did more homework than anyone (Pizza Inn) ever had franchise," Harrington said. "We took the best ideas from all those franchisees. And - unlike when you go talk to your competitors about their businesses - the franchisees were very open."

Even though a franchised business comes with assistance and a built in brand name, that doesn't mean the work is any easier.

Since opening in mid-April, Cotton said he and Harrington have put in 18-hour days. That's declining as the store's 80 employees become more proficient.

"The next thing is to get a day off," Cotton said.

Donatos is looking

On the other side of the franchise equation are companies that are actively targeting specific areas, including the Triangle.

Ohio-based Donatos is currently seeking potential franchisees in this area.

"We're really looking for a place that is value-based like we are, where people care about food - about the quality of the food and the quality of the people in the restaurant," said chairwoman Jane Grote Abell, whose father founded the company 48 years ago. "Raleigh's at the top of the list."

Expansion can present challenges, said Donatos marketing director Tom Santor, especially when it comes to consistency of product and building a fan base. But Donatos feels confident that this market will be good for the company.

"We actually offer a mail-order pizza program," he said. "The whole Triangle area continues to come up again and again."

More pie, please

Despite the more than 74,100 pizza restaurants in the United States, there is still room for growth, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic, a Chicago research firm that tracks the industry.

Other pizza options have also grown, like chains that sell take-and-bake pizzas and more options from grocery stores.

"With more people sitting home in front of their big-screen TVs, why not eat more pizza?" he said. "There still seems to be continued, increasing demand."

Cotton and Harrington say they would like to open two or three more Pizza Inns in the next few years.

Donatos is shooting for 25 in the Triangle in the next five to seven years.

And Triple S Foods says its Fayetteville-Raleigh market could eventually be home to 37 stores.

"Everybody can worry about the economy and housing, but we all have to do is get up and go to work in the morning," said Dee Dee Stanley. "I think the main thing is to be passionate about your product. ... The thing about pizza is and always has been that you can still feed a family on $20 and still feel like you're going out."