Yet another national pizza chain is hoping to enter the Juneau market. Little Caesars is looking for a local franchisee to open up a branch.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity for someone,” Ed Ader, director of franchise development for Little Caesars, said on the phone Thursday.
The chain already has more than 4,000 locations around the country, including two in Anchorage.
“We need a local operator/owner and the demographics meet our requirements for a store. Definitely enough people, income is good for us,” Ader said.
Ader said Little Caesars prides itself on its “HOT-N-READY” concept. During business hours, the pizza place offers certain menu items, like cheese pizza, breadsticks and chicken wings, ready for pick-up. That means no ordering ahead or waiting, Ader said.
“We try to make it as simple and convenient as possible,” he said.
The chain’s niche is value, Ader said, and while prices will be slightly higher in Juneau than in the Lower 48 — $7 instead of $5 for a 14-inch cheese pizza — the goal is still to be “the best priced pizza in town.”
“It’s going to be a little more expensive because of the cost of doing business in your area,” Ader said.
He said the franchisee has the final say on pricing but Little Caesars provides heavy guidance. Little Caesars in Anchorage and ones in Hawaii both charge $7 for a 14-inch cheese pizza.
Juneau already has many pizza options. With chains like Domino’s Pizza, Papa Murphy’s, Papa John’s Pizza (which just opened last month), and at least six local businesses that offer pizza, is Juneau on the verge of being oversaturated with pizza? Ader said no.
He said the amount of pizza places in Juneau is a good thing, “because you know you have a pizza market there.”
“One more won’t make a real difference to them, and they won’t make a difference to us,” he said. “Everybody loves pizza. Kids eat pizza, and grandma and grandpa eat it with the young ones. Pizza is a fun food.”
Juneau Pizza owner Andrew Fairchild said he isn’t worried about a Little Caesars’ potentially opening.
“They’d put a little dent in us when they first open up, but we’ll be here. We’re not going anywhere. Like the first week that Papa John’s opened, it slowed us down a little bit, but we’re back to normal already,” Fairchild said.
Juneau Pizza, located near the airport, has been around for ten years.
“We saw Freakin Pizza come and go. We saw Pizza Hut come and go,” Fairchild said.
Little Caesars would likely hurt other pizza business more than his, Fairchild added.
“We got our regulars, and I don’t really see them going to anybody else.”
Little Caesars has been looking to move into Juneau for the last two years, Ader said. It also hopes to open in Fairbanks and Eagle River. He said a franchisee doesn’t have to have food service experience.
“Our operating model is very simple. We have a very limited menu, and we’re strictly carryout. We don’t do delivery, and we don’t have seats. That’s one of the ways we can keep that price down is to not have those extra expenses,” Ader said.
He said a Little Caesars typically employs one or two full-time and around 20 part-time employees.
Anyone interested in becoming a Little Caesar franchisee can call 1-800-553-5776 or visit its website.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.
