Pizza Marketplace Podcast

In this episode podcast host Mandy Wolf Detwiler sits down with loyalty experts Larry Fiel and Mike Reinecker of PDQ, and Russ Lehmann, co-owner of Little Italian Pizza in Naperville, Illinois, to learn how the pizzeria is finding success with its loyalty program.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to John Stetson, CEO of Florida-based Stoner's Pizza Joint.

The brand was founded in 2013 in Savannah, Georgia. The first location had a stone oven, which is from where the brand takes its name. Though the brand enjoys its double entendre namesake, there's actually no cannabis involved in the recipes, though Stoner's does use it in its marketing.

"We kind of pivot depending on the marketing we're in," Stetson said. "If we're on a college campus, I think we're very outgoing with the name. If you go into one of our locations we'll have #legalizemarinara, #ownajoint, #getbaked -- those kinds of play on words of cannabis and pizza simultaneously. But, then you go into some other demographics where it's more of a community and it doesn't resonate as well. We, in those markets, will drop the 'Joint' from our signage as 'Stoner's Pizza.'"

He said he doesn't want to lose that family of four ordering a pizza on a Friday night and the franchisees strive to be local pizzerias in their respective communities. The brand also delivers to a lot of schools, so it's cognizant of how the brand stands in the community.

"We use it to our advantage when we can and obviously pull back when we need to," Stetson said.

To hear how Stoner's Pizza Joint is weathering the economy and more, click the link above.

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In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Jim Metevier, CEO of Mountain Mike's Pizza. The California chain of 240 restaurants is making waves on the West Coast with its toppings-heavy pies and tight operations.

Metevier has more than 30 years experience in the restaurant industry. He previously served as the company's president and COO before taking the reigns as CEO earlier this year.

Metevier said the restaurant business is not for the faint of heart.

"I always find it funny when I talk to prospective franchisees ... people will tell me 'Hey, when I retire, I want to open a restaurant. That's the opposite of retiring!" he said.

To listen to the podcast in its entirety, click the link above.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Wesley Keegan, founder of TailGate Brewery, a nine-unit pizzeria and brew hall in Nashville, Tennessee.

Keegan started with a brewery, but found his customers would have a beer and then leave to go find food. He tried bringing in food trucks, but that didn't seem to work. Instead, he started his own pizzeria using the best ingredients he could find.

"We run a full pizza kitchen in all of our stores and it's really a full pizza restaurant by every measure, but being a brewery, we call it a taproom, and the majority of our taproom sales is pizza," Keegan said.

To learn more about beer and pizza sales, listen to the podcast in its entirety.