History
The Food That Built America Recap for Pizza Power Play
The Food That Built America is back on The History Channel with Pizza Power Play!
Before we got the chains we know and love, there was basic pizza without all the fancy toppings and sides.
By the time 1979 rolled around, Pizza Hut was sold to PepsiCo and struggling. Dominos was a huge competition, with delivery making it stand head and shoulders above the competition. They also were dealing with Little Caesars having a two for one deal, causing even more competition.
In 1959, Mike Ilitch, a former baseball player, was a husband and father looking to support his family. He always loves making pizza, so he decided to make it into a career. Together with his wife Marian, they opened a location in Garden City. The name Little Caesars came to be thanks to Marian’s nickname for him.
Before it was shortened to the name we know now, it was called Little Caesars Pizza Treat.
The couple worked together and sold pizza, sandwiches and sides. They would run into problems by being takeout only, leading to Mike eventually collaborating with a stranger in a bar, who suggested he franchise the business. He would become the first person in Michigan to open a restaurant franchise, and they would soon have several locations.
Little Caesars would drop the Pizza Treat and everything wasn’t pizza from the menu. It would grow nationally but soon faced competition from Pizza Hut and Dominos when they opened.
In order to prove they were the best of the best, Mike would offer the first pizza on the house….thus giving birth to the buy one, get one free deal…..in a double pizza box to show off the value. PIZZA! PIZZA! soon became a national tagline thanks to their first TV ad.
Meanwhile, in Wichita, Pizza Hut’s board of directors sees the commercial and wants to step up the competition. Thus, the Pan Pizza is born! Frank Carney may have come up with the idea but resigns when the idea is initially rejected.
Pizza Hut would end up using the idea months later, making it the number one pizza in the company’s history.
Frank is not happy about this….so he decides to take matters into his own hands.
Back in Garden City, Little Caesars is looking for a way to increase profits without increasing cost. Mike decided to make breadsticks with leftover dough, cheese, garlic and butter…. aka, the Crazy Bread! This would allow them to make more money without spending money.
Pizza Hut realizes the lunch crowd is slow, so they invent the Personal Pan Pizza to have pizza for people on the go. This increases profits by 70%.
Tom Monaghan, the man behind Dominos, feels the heat of the competition….so they invent the 30-minute delivery guarantee….or your pizza is free. Their sales co up into the billions.
Tom would go on to buy the Detroit Tigers for even more business opportunities.
The Big Three in pizza are all head-to-head, even going after each other in ad campaigns. Pizza Hut even goes into the delivery business.
Dominos feels the pressure of the delivery guarantee. leading to accidents and lawsuits against the company, closing the delivery guarantee for good….and also closing several locations.
Tom is feeling the pressure….so he takes an offer he can’t refuse……selling Mike the Detroit Tigers….but then telling him that takeout is going to become an option for Dominos. Cue yet another Pizza War.
Not to be outdone, Domino’s offers chicken wings as a side…..increasing revenue to the tune of 300 million.
Pizza Hut decides to hire Patty Scheibmier to run focus groups. When she discovers people aren’t eating the crust, she decides to find a way to make it appealing….by coming up with the idea of stuffed crust pizza.
Back in Wichita, Frank goes back into the pizza business with a vengeance……by going into business with Papa John’s. He even goes as far as to make the big announcement in a national commercial, which will put Papa John’s on the map…..but also earn them a lawsuit.
Unluckily, for Pizza Hut, this would only increase business for Papa John’s….and make the Big Three into the Big Four.
Tom would retire in 1998 and sell it for 1.1 billion.
Little Caesars is worth billions with over 5,000 locations.
Dominos is the number one chain, with Pizza Hut a close second.
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