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Papa John's opened

J

j_r0kk

New member
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. PJ’s just opened up in my area on Saturday. Poor Domino’s, Ceasars, and Pizza Hut. They’re not gonna know what hit 'em.

I passed by Domino’s tonight and there were 4 crew members BS’ing on the side of the store in the parking lot. It looked like they had 2 boxes up when I went by. I really thought they’d have gotten into my sales a little bit since they opened. I haven’t seen anything yet. Last week I fell $350 short of a record week and was up $1000 over the previous week. After today, I’m up $150 over last Monday.

Hmph. I was expecting a little more drama. I’m sure they’ll dig in. I’ll keep you guys posted. I also have an intrusion marketing plan that I’m in the middle of. After 4 weeks, if it works, I’ll send it to anybody that wants it. You’ve just got to wait 4 weeks though so I know it works. I wouldn’t want to give info that fails.

-J_r0kk
 
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Why do you say that?

Don’t you think you and the other chains can compete against them? You are established.

What makes them so good?
 
Guest writes:
Why do you say that?
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Don’t you think you and the other chains can compete against them? You are established.

What makes them so good?

It’s inevitable. They will take sales from somewhere. ANY new pizza restaurant opening in an area will take sales from the existing pizza restaurants. They just don’t acquire a new crop of customers that have never ordered pizza before.

Papa John’s IS good. They’ve got a powerful brand that attracts more customers than not. That would be why they’re the third largest pizza chain in existence. You’d be a fool not to watch carefully what they do at all times when they first come into your town. If you take this lightly you lose marketshare. That’s why I felt the need to post this.

-J_r0kk
 
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your 100% right. Ive experienced in another business when i was in a partnership. we were in business for seven year and couldnt handle a 50% employee anymore so i opened up in the same town (lanscaping co.)and it was amazing all the work i got where were all the people when i was with my partner in the same town same business. i think people just like trying something new even though i was the same person. so anytime a new place opens it will take your business even if its just in the beginning.
 
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Hi jrok!

My experience with PJ was a bit different. They opened up here to big fanfare and closed within 18 months. I talked to someone there who said that they couldn’t compete with the low prices in the area. The owner had his home ofreclosed and filed bankruptcy as I understand it. They capped at about $5000 a week.

Kyle
 
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They’re getting me for about 10 orders/day. Not much, but does knock my sales down about $1,000/week. Domino’s on the other hand isn’t quite as lucky. I feel for 'em. They’re pretty slow. The biggest loser though, is another indy called Gambino’s. I knew they were in trouble a couple weeks before PJ’s came into town because all of a sudden their drivers started riding around with lit car top signs (something they’ve never done before). Their place is like a ghost town now, going with maybe 2 drivers a night and hardly any dine in business to speak of. They were averaging a little over $6k/week before PJ’s opened. I have a feeling they’re now down to around $4k.

-J_r0kk
 
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When a new shop opens in my market there is always a bounce. Same thing with when soomebody does a mailing. People will try “new” and people will go for a deal. I would guess that when PJ’s opens you have both.

My first location was a PJ store. They were open for 8 months and failed. That was 9 years ago. I got a great build-out and equipment package for 10 cents on the dollar. They are not gods.
 
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