With a new executive team in place, MOD Pizza is working on a plan to grow top-line sales and stabilize the business.
This according to Lyndsey Patel, MOD’s vice president of marketing, who said in an interview with Restaurant Business on Friday that the fast-casual pizza chain’s go-forward strategy under new owner Elite Restaurant Group is still taking shape.
The fast-casual pizza chain was acquired in July following months of speculation that the Bellevue, Washington-based company was heading for bankruptcy. The company at the time was exploring options to improve its capital structure.
In stepped Elite, which has been a collector of financially troubled restaurant chains over the years, including brands like Slater’s 50/50, Project Pie and Patxi’s Pizza, as well as Marie Callender’s and Gigi’s Cupcakes. It’s not clear what other brands Elite still operates and Patel could not speak beyond the MOD Pizza brand. Patel, who worked previously with Raising Cane’s, joined MOD in June, around the time of the acquisition. She works with MOD CMO Jennifer Anderson (the former CMO of Raising Cane’s who joined MOD in April) and the two are among the only top executives to stay with the brand under the new ownership.
Gone are MOD CEO Beth Scott, who was appointed in January this year, as well as Chief Restaurant Officer Becky Mulligan, Chief People Officer Dayna Eberhardt, CFO Bob Baker and Chief Development Officer Stephen Blum.
The new leadership team at MOD now includes Michael Nakhleh as CEO, Asif Sheikh as executive chairman and Marina Daniels as COO.
And, with the leadership team in place, Patel said the company is now working on setting the tone and vision for the brand, and moving forward with a sense of urgency.
Last week, for example, the company announced plans to refranchise company-owned units, which make up the majority of the 492-unit chain (89 are franchised). But Patel said MOD has not yet determined how many company units might be refranchised or in which markets.
It appears another 20 restaurants have been closed since the acquisition, when MOD had 512 units. At that point, MOD had already shuttered 44 underperforming restaurants this year. Another 20 would bring that total to 64 so far.
But Patel could not immediately clarify the unit count or the number of units that have been closed.
“You will continue to see them evolve with growth and transition to franchise ownership,” she said. “Part of our strategy will be franchising and growing with our existing group of franchisees, and we’re excited to introduce more partners into our system.”
Last week, MOD also rolled out a new pricing structure designed to add more value options. MOD has long been known for its One Price, Unlimited Toppings, and that’s still an option. But now customers can select a one-topping pizza at a lower price, and a cheese-only pizza for an even lower price than that.
“We’ve been taking the opportunity to listen to guests and making sure our menu is as accessible as we want it to be,” she said.
The menu refresh also included the return of roasted broccoli and ricotta among the topping options, which Patel said guests have been requesting. And the company has been retraining staff—what MOD calls Squad members—on things like order flow on the makeline and how to communicate the new pricing options.
Founded in 2008 by Scott and Ally Svenson, MOD was once the fastest-growing fast-casual pizza concept. The brand was known in part for its mission of being a second-chance employer of people who faced certain workforce barriers, like previous incarceration, homelessness or developmental disabilities.
Patel said those core values won’t change under the new ownership.
“We’re going back to what already exists in our rich brand DNA,” she said.
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