Dive Brief:

• Mr. Gatti’s Pizza has added a convenience store model to its franchise opportunities, according to a Thursday press release. 
• The start-up cost for a c-store location of the Fort Worth, Texas-based pizza restaurant is between $374,000 to $652,866 and requires from 800 to 1,500 square feet. Once a location gets a Mr. Gatti’s, customers can order in person or through the restaurant’s mobile app. 
• As foodservice continues to expand at convenience stores, Mr. Gatti’s will join juggernauts like Hunt Brothers and Sbarro as well as Villa Italian Kitchen as pre-packaged pizza options for retailers.

Dive Insight:

The success of Mr. Gatti’s Pizza’s delivery and carryout, or DELCO, model of stores “makes convenience store opportunities a natural fit,” said Scott McIntosh, vice president of franchise development at the pizza chain, in an email. “C-Store operators see value in national and regional branding for their food opportunity and we have 55 years of brand equity that they get to leverage.”

The company will initially look to work with c-stores in Texas and the Southeast, though it eventually plans to expand to the Southwest and Midwest as well. Currently, the restaurant can be found in its DELCO units, as well as at family entertainment locations, which have arcade games in addition to the pizza foodservice. The expansion into c-stores is the company’s first move into what it called non-traditional locations. 

While the company has not announced any c-store partners yet, “we have been in initial discussion with a few companies that have interest in bringing Mr Gatti’s to their C-Store locations,” said McIntosh, adding that some of its current franchisees are also in the convenience store business, so the addition could be a “natural fit” for them in the future. 

“It's a strategic evolution, ensuring our franchise partners not only grow with the brand but also lead the way in the ever-evolving food service industry," said McIntosh in the press release.

Mr. Gatti’s menu includes a wide variety of pizza, including both build-your-own and specialty varieties, such as the Meat Market pizza, which has smoked provolone, pepperoni, sausage, burger and Canadian bacon; and the Gatti’s deluxe, with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and black olives. The menu also includes Caesar or house salads and dessert pizzas.

Mr. Gatti’s has more than 140 restaurants in operation or development in Texas and the Southeast.