“affiliated” stores – which Rice defined as
having a “like-minded interest between the
corporation and the franchisee.”
New conc ept s in menu i t ems or
presentation are typically tested in those
locations, she said.
Locations are very similar across the board,
with the only variations tending to bewhere
menu prices reflect different distribution
costs in California as opposed to Michigan
or other states. The same interior and
exterior coloring is used in all locations –
red and black, with lots of neon and chrome
– and the menu is “99 percent the same”
fromrestaurant to restaurant.
The differences in food items, Rice said,
would be in regional dishes available in
appropriate locations, like a Polish dog in
Cleveland, for example. Overall, the typical
offerings include selections ranging from
pizza to ribs to grilled chicken salads to
French fries tobanana pudding.
“People don’t come to Happy’s to get pizza,
necessarily,” she said. “They come to
Happy’s to get 220menu items.”
Restaurants can be positioned in both free-
standing buildings or as parts of retail strips.
The company is also working on a
conversion model in which it would take
existing restaurants or pizzerias and update
them with the equipment necessary to
become a full-fledged Happy’s Pizza
location.
“Anything to lessen the cost and the initial
investment for our franchisees,”Rice said.
Happy’s was slotted at No. 350 on
Entrepreneur magazine’s “Franchise 500”
list for 2014. The baseline financial
Happy’s Pizza
| BusinessWorld-
Magazine
| 3
