Your Pie Releases Eggnog Gelato Limited Time Offer

Getting into the holiday season yet? Well, we are already prepared at Your Pie! We recently launched our Eggnog Gelato in our restaurants throughout the Southeast. If you are in the mood for a creamy holiday classic with a swirl of chocolate and sweet cake, then we have just the flavor for you. But you better hurry in because this seasonal specialty will only be around for a limited time.

Find the nearest restaurant on our website!

Your Pie featured in Nation's Restaurant News

Your Pie was featured in the November print edition of Nation's Restaurant News sharing the inception story of the Your Pie franchise concept by Drew French. Currently in the fast-casual marketplace, the down-the-line pizza segment is growing quickly and Your Pie was one of the first major players in the industry opening the first location in Athens, Georgia in 2008. Since opening their first restaurant in Georgia, Your Pie has expanded into Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina and are actively looking to grow into new states across the country.

See the PDF article online here.

Your Pie featured in Pizza Marketplace

Your Pie was recently featured in Pizza Marketplace in an article titled, "Your Pie aims for 100 locations by 2015." The article discusses some of the background information about the Your Pie customized pizza franchise and then transitions into a Q&A with vice president of development, Ken Caldwell.  Ken talks about his excitement joining the Your Pie team, the switch to a pizza concept, what makes Your Pie the leader in the fast casual pizza space, plans for growth, and why the fast casual pizza concept is so hot right now.

View the article online here. 

Your Pie aims for 100 locations by 2015

November 8, 2013 - Alicia Kelso

The growth of the fast casual pizza category is staggering and many young concepts have aspirations to quickly surpass the 100-unit mark.

One of those brands is Atlanta-based Your Pie. First opened in 2008 by founder Drew French, Your Pie has grown to 18 locations and recently announced a partnership with Georgia Oak Partners to spur further expansion.

The company's plan is to reach 100 units by 2015. As part of that strategy, Ken Caldwell was recently named VP of Development. Previously, Caldwell led start-up concept Heavenly Ham from 10 units to 230. He then helped HoneyBaked Ham dive head first into franchising, and led that company's growth from 35 units to 180. PizzaMarketplace.com had the chance to talk to Caldwell recently about the fast casual pizza trend and Your Pie's differentiators in an increasingly crowded space.

PizzaMarketplace.com: Why did you take a risk and join a young company in a young subsegment of pizza?

Ken Caldwell: There is always a risk with everything. I've been in franchising for 20 years. Part of my personal thrill is to take emerging brands and grow them. As a customer, I saw what Your Pie was doing and I loved the quality of the product and the emerging category and Your Pie's place in it.

PizzaMarketplace.com: What has the learning curve been like for you getting into the pizza space?

KC: I am new to pizza and there is some difference in the day-to-day operation. But we believe pizza is about as simple as restaurant operations can be. Yes, there is training involved, but we feel that we can teach anybody how to operate a pizza store. The key, though, is to find people who can run a business profitably. We can teach operations, but we need to make sure we teach unit level economics.

PizzaMarketplace.com: As the top-your-own category grows, what is Your Pie's differentiator?

KC: Our primary focus is offering the ability for customers to create their own pizzas. But we also do salads, Panini, craft beer, gelato. We encourage our franchisees to develop relationships with local beer distributors in their markets, and craft beer lovers appreciate that. And, a differentiator is the brick oven, which brings a fantastic flavor to the pizza — a crispy, light flavor. We also use the oven to bake bread for our Panini, so our advantage is in the quality of the product. The brick oven is our focal point.

PizzaMarketplace.com: Does a brick oven slow down speed of service, compared to a concept that uses a high-tech conveyor oven?

KC: From an operations perspective, we believe a brick oven can cook pizza as fast as a conveyor oven and has other advantages. We hand-toss our dough, whereas a lot of competitors hand-press their dough ahead of time. It creates an operational efficiency for them, but we don't take the 'time perspective.' We take the freshness and flavor perspective. We can hand toss our dough, let our customers choose their toppings, bake the pizza and still have it to them in 7 to 10 minutes.

To continue reading Q&A, click here. 

Industry Veteran Ken Caldwell Joins the Your Pie Executive Team

Proven Franchise Expert Set to Steer Growth of the Originator of the Down-the-line Pizza Category

ATHENS, Ga. – Your Pie, the originator of the down-the-line pizza category, continues to grow and get stronger.

Ken Caldwell, one of franchising’s best known and most successful developers, has joined the Your Pie team as the Vice President of Development, the company announced today.

Caldwell brings 20 years in franchising and a documented track record for growth to the brick-oven, personalized pizza brand. He will spearhead Your Pie’s expansion throughout the Southeast and beyond.

“Ken is one of those rare talents that truly understands and can convey the value of becoming part of a franchise family,” Your Pie Chairman of the Board David Barr said. “Ken brings a wealth of experience and talent to the team. We believe we have a special opportunity with Your Pie. Ken’s presence only makes us stronger, and we couldn’t be any more pleased to have him aboard.”

Caldwell began his career with Heavenly Ham alongside current Your Pie CEO Bucky Cook. Caldwell helped take the then-startup ham purveyor from 10 to 230 units before the brand was sold to competitor HoneyBaked Ham.

Caldwell remained with HoneyBaked, which had just ventured into franchising. Under his leadership, the company grew from 35 to 180 units. He also aided in the transition after the merger and operated the HoneyBaked company-owned stores.

“This was truly a very easy decision for me,” Caldwell said. “Your Pie is an exciting, exceptional brand that offers franchisees that rare opportunity to get in at the start. We have a great story to tell about an authentic concept that will revolutionize the way that people look at pizza. I couldn’t be happier to be part of it.”

No other down-the-line pizza brand in the United States has grown more steadily or has opened as many stores.  Your Pie remains committed to becoming the first in the segment to reach 100 operating stores.

With a powerful combination of company assets that includes Drew French, who conceived the concept of down-the-line pizza, a franchise-development team that ranks with the best in the industry and a solidified relationship with Georgia Oak Partners, the brand has established a formula for success to achieve and exceed goals for growth.

Caldwell is actively engaged with franchise partners interested in joining this successful brand. He is working with multi-unit franchise owners and franchise owners looking to diversify, he said. 

The brand will add locations in Atlanta, Charlotte, Tampa, Nashville, Charleston, Birmingham, and Augusta. Although the brand is looking for partners to join the Your Pie family in the Southeast, they also boast a model to support locations in other areas of the country. 

ABOUT YOUR PIE

Your Pie is the world’s originator of the quick-serve, brick-oven, customized personal pizza category. Your Pie owner and originator Drew French tapped his restaurant background and knowledge of the conveyor-driven quick-serve and married it with brick oven technology to create the highest quality pizza available at incredible speed. Drawing from family recipes from the island of Ischia, Your Pie uses only fresh ingredients, homemade pizza sauces and salad dressings, and offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free pizzas, as well as traditional pizzas. Customers who dine at Your Pie have come to expect a custom-made and delicious pizza delivered to their table well within 10 minutes of ordering – the definition of fast casual. As a result, the Your Pie brand is synonymous with success and a fan favorite of families in the communities it serves. For more information about Your Pie or franchising opportunities, please visit www.yourpie.com.

Your Pie in Tampa Bay Business Journal

Your Pie was recently featured in the Tampa Bay Business Journal in an article titled, "With New Backing, Your Pie Pursues Tampa Bay." The article discusses the growth and expansion plans of the custom pizza franchise in the Tampa Bay market as well as the overall growth plans with the new financial backing of private equity firm Georgia Oak Partners. The overall goal for development is to have 100 Your Pie restaurants by the end of 2015.

Check out the article here.

With new backing, Your Pie pursues Tampa Bay

Margaret Cashill

Staff Writer- Tampa Bay Business Journal

Owners of build-your-own pizza chain Your Pie have plans to expand rapidly in Tampa Bay during the next few years.

Now, an undisclosed investment from private equity firm Georgia Oak Partners has furthered Your Pie’s efforts to grow, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.

Your Pie, based in Athens, Ga., has 18 locations in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, including a restaurant at 2219 South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.

In July, CEO Bucky Cook told TBBJ he expects to add a second Tampa Bay location in the next year, and he intends to add another 25 locations in area in the next five to seven years.

Since closing the deal with Georgia Oak this summer, Your Pie has condensed that time frame to two to four years, Cook said.


Four of Your Pie’s locations are company-owned and 14, including the Tampa restaurant, are owned by franchisees.

To continue reading, click here.

Your Pie featured in Nation's Restaurant News

Your Pie was featured in Nation's Restaurant News in an article titled, "Your Pie eyes growth in Southeast." Founder, Drew French and partner at Georgia Oak, David Barr, were both interviewed discussing the growth plans throughout the Southeast and the plans to have a total of 100 restaurants in the next two years. The article shares the potential of the brand in the industry and the type of franchise partners that Your Pie is currently seeking out.

See the whole article online here.

Your Pie eyes growth in Southeast

After investment, the fast-casual pizza chain aims to open 100 units in two years

Oct. 18, 2013 

Mark Brandau

The chain received an undisclosed investment from Atlanta-based private-equity firm Georgia Oak Partners

Drew French might have been among the first restaurateurs to start the burgeoning fast-casual pizza segment when he opened Your Pie in Athens, Ga., in 2008 at age 24. But long before that, he was developing the concept of customized individual pizzas made quickly — mostly because he was not fond of sharing his favorite anchovy-and-black-olive pizza as a kid.

Now, as the sector heats up, with developing fast-casual pizza brands like Solos, Live Basil and Pie Five, French is not as keen on sharing franchisees or customers with fellow upstarts as he is with leading the category.

“Before there was any other competition, the goal was to be a globally admired brand,” French said. 

“Everybody loves pizza, so it made sense to me that Your Pie would scale, not just out of Athens but across the nation.”

In August, as Your Pie opened its 18th location, one big admirer did come calling: Atlanta-based private-equity firm Georgia Oak Partners. The firm’s undisclosed investment in Your Pie Franchising was intended to bolster the brand’s infrastructure and capital for growing to 100 units in two years.

French remains involved in Your Pie as a franchisee of three restaurants, and the company’s chief executive, Bucky Cook, also runs one location as a franchisee. The brand also brought in Ken Caldwell as vice president of development to oversee the new growth push.

“We realized that if we really want to take it to the next level, we’ll need the capital to do it, and our experience would only take us so far,” French said. “In the first conversations I had with David [Barr, a director at Georgia Oak], we knew it would be a good fit. I felt like it was time to invest in the company and make a move to build our infrastructure and give us the ability to scale faster.”

Georgia Oak was not the first private-equity firm to do its due diligence on Your Pie, French said, but the firm made the right partner because it understood that French wanted to expand Your Pie meticulously outward from the Southeast.

“What drew us to the segment was fast casual in a broad sense,” said Barr, who leads Georgia Oak’s restaurant, retail and consumer division. “Consumers are reacting to controlling their dining experience and customization. Then we looked at pizza, and Your Pie intrigued us because they were the first, and they are the largest. Other chains boast about how many units they have in the pipeline, but Your Pie is the largest.”

Upon meeting with French and Cook, Georgia Oak quickly was assured that the restaurant brand and the investors were aligned on how the system should continue to grow organically and contiguously in the Southeast.

French reiterated that Your Pie’s internal goal is to have 100 units open by the end of 2015. The target markets are Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; Tampa, Fla.; and Birmingham, Ala.

To continue reading, click here. 

Your Pie featured in the Birmingham Business Journal

Your Pie was featured this week in the Birmingham Business Journal with their details for expansion in the market, looking to add 8 to 10 restaurants by the end of 2015. The article was titled, "Your Pie targets Birmingham for 8-10 pizzerias," and was built from the interview with Vice President of Development, Ken Caldwell. Your Pie also looks to have 50 locations across the state of Alabama and shares franchise costs associated and information about opening a Your Pie franchise. 

Click here to visit the article online. 

Oct 1, 2013, 8:22am CDT

Your Pie targets Birmingham for 8-10 pizzerias

By: Ryan Poe

Your Pie, a Georgia-based pizza franchise, is scouting for local franchisees to open a total of 8 to 10 stores in Birmingham by the end of 2015.

Vice President of Development Ken Caldwell said the quick-serve franchise – like Subway, but with pizzas – doesn't have any potential franchisees in metro Birmingham yet, but already has a prospect in the Auburn area.

The group's timetable calls for franchisee agreements by the end of the first quarter of 2014, with the first stores opening the following summer.

To continue reading, click here. 

Franchisee Spotlight: Paul and Michael Childers, Savannah, Georgia

Meet our Savannah Your Pie franchisees, Paul and Michael Childers! 

How did you learn about the brand?

Paul: I was in the furniture industry and when things got real bad in 2008 or 2009, I had to make the decision to sell the business.  A friend of mine and I kicked around and did some bone fishing, which was fun, but hit a point where I had to start thinking of paying the bills.  An accountant friend of ours had a daughter who was going to the University of Georgia and kept raving about this place called Your Pie and this cool concept out of Athens.  We love pizza and we knew what was going on with places like Chipotle and Moe’s, so we knew if someone could put that interesting twist on pizza, which is such a wide favorite, we knew it would take off.  We also thought the healthy options available made it attractive to customers.  Mike and I went to Athens and met Drew and Bucky.  We believed in it, so hopped on board and opened the downtown location.  Once that got going we opened the one in Sandfly.

Michael: I graduated from Georgia Southern and got a job with a firm in Savannah doing logistics.  I did that and my dad and I started looking into the Your Pie concept idea and did the trips to Athens to check it out and took time off to look in to it.  We opened the store in November 2010 and in early 2011, I decided to leave my job and focus on growing the business and opening our 2^nd store.

What are your expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with Your Pie?

Paul: It’s always a possibility that we’ll grow.  We grew pretty quickly into the second store, so we’re trying to settle in and make sure things are working smoothly and people are happy.  We’ll take a look at it again down the road.

Are you involved with any charities or do any community outreach with your business?

Michael: We’ve both lived in Savannah for the majority of our lives.  My dad grew up here, moved away and came back.  I’ve lived here for my entire life.  So we love giving back to our hometown community.  We tie in with a ton of local groups and do charity nights where we give a percentage of sales back to the group.  We’ve done them for local baseball teams, schools in the area, organizations and any good cause that needs a boost.

Do you have any hobbies, pastimes, and passions outside of work?

Paul: I golf and love to fly fish, bone fish, and go salt water fishing.

Michael: I do any kind of fishing in the Savannah area too, and boating too.  Really, anything out on the water.

Your Pie featured in QSR Magazine

Our Savannah franchisee Paul Childers was recently featured by QSR Magazine in an article titled, "A Healthier Slice," where he discusses the customized, healthier choices that they offer to their customers. Childers gives some insight into some of the challenges he has been faced with in the market with the two Your Pie locations in Savannah and how they have had to change consumer thinking. With the trends of healthier ingredients and changing consumer trends, Your Pie is well positioned for growth in the area. One advantage that Your Pie has is its unique approach where they let guests customize pizzas, salads and their craft beer selections. 

Click here for the full article. 

A Healthier Slice

Paul Childers discusses how franchisees can market healthy options and high-quality ingredients to draw in a new kind of crowd.

After years of working in the furniture industry and spending time owning, operating, and eventually selling his stores, Paul Childers entered the quick-serve world in 2009 when a hot tip from a good friend turned Childers on to a new pizza concept called Your Pie.

Today, Childers’s two franchised units in Savannah, Georgia, are experiencing positive growth and buzz about town. Built on the backs of fresh ingredients, customer choice, family-recipe sauces, and craft-beer options, Your Pie is giving Childers’s customers something they can’t get at other fast-food brands.

Childers attributes his success to the concept and the customized, healthier choices that it offers customers, but says it hasn’t been easy; he and his team have had to battle against bigger brands on both the food and beverage side of business, using hard work and quality product to draw consumers.

Childers shares how the combination of choice, quality product, and healthy options can help a brand stand up to even the largest of competitors.

1. Mute the monotony

The reason I was attracted to Your Pie as a business was the fresh take on the mundane. There are always so many places to get a pizza, regardless of your location. Your Pie reminded me of that local pizza shop that has an edge over the big brands: It’s usually locally owned and operated by someone in the community, and run by employees who are committed to the local cause and local growth.

Your Pie took that concept, turned it into a made-to-order product, and had people coming back for more. Additionally, it was giving customers a pizza option that could be healthier and less greasy—with vegetables, gluten-free crusts, white or wheat dough, oil-based pizzas, and so on—without compromise. The choice is there for every customer across the board.

To continue reading article, click here. 

Franchisee Spotlight: Macon Evans and Barrett Feighner, Columbus, Georgia

Macon Evans and Barrett Feighner both come from families of longtime Columbus natives and the two have known each other since early childhood.  The lifelong friends attended Columbus’s Brookstone School from kindergarten through middle school, and while they attended separate high schools they stayed close friends and went to the University of Georgia together where Macon studied economics and Barrett studied business management.  During their time at UGA, they both worked at Five Points Deli in Athens.

After college, Macon stayed in Athens and went to work in the corporate offices of Barberitos and Barrett returned to Columbus to work in the real estate industry.  Their jobs kept them on the road for a significant portion of 3 to 5 years, and they both realized that they wanted to pursue their own business together.  After looking into a variety of franchise restaurant options, they went back to one of Macon’s favorite restaurants in Athens, Your Pie.  They opened their location in The Landings in September 2011 and opened their second location in Uptown Columbus in March 2013. 

Macon and Barrett have won several awards since opening, including the Top Sales award for the Landings location at the recent Your Pie franchisee conference.  Only in business since March 2013, the Uptown location is already on pace to beat those sales numbers by as high as 40%.

The success of the Uptown area can be attributed, in part, to the big push to revitalize the area and bring in vibrant young businesses like Your Pie. 

How did you learn about the brand?

It was one of Macon’s favorite places to eat in Athens.  When we decided we wanted to open a restaurant together, we looked at frozen yogurt as an option and several other concepts.  None of them seemed to be exactly what we wanted.  Your Pie was a young company that offered a lot of different markets for growth and we liked that we could grow with the company.  Pizza is a proven concept, and Your Pie is a unique and innovative twist on pizza.  It was a different way of experiencing the pizza concept…and also, the product is just really good.  We decided Your Pie was the concept for us, so we went and met with Drew and secured the Columbus (Georgia) and Auburn (Alabama) markets. 

What are your expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with Your Pie?

There is probably only room for one more in Columbus.  If all goes well, we can open one in Auburn.  We haven’t done anything in Auburn yet.  We decided to open our second Columbus location instead of moving into Auburn.

I mean, if it goes well, we’d love to have a dozen of these…but right now we’re committed to three or four and growing at a realistic pace.  There are no specific plans yet to open in Auburn, but I’ve been looking into potential real estate for when we decide to make that move.

Are you involved with any charities or do any community outreach with your business?

We are involved in Young Professionals with the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce.  We host “Spirit Nights” where people from a charity or organization can come and a certain portion of the sales are donated back to the organization.  We also work with a local shelter called PAWS.

Do you have any superstar employees?

Columbus State University is the local college and 80% of our staff is from there.  The theater department building at Columbus State University is downtown, so half of our staff at the downtown location is from the theater department.  They’re great because they have big personalities and have been excellent employees.

Do you have any hobbies, pastimes, and passions outside of work?

Barrett lives on the water and loves to spend time wake boarding and paddle boarding, he plays basketball, they both golf.  They both like to spend time with their dogs.  Barrett is engaged while Macon is single.

Franchisee Spotlight: Clay and Debi Huckaby, Watkinsville, Georgia

Clay and Debi Huckaby met in college while attending Georgia Southern.  After graduation, Clay started a career in governmental affairs while Debi began a career in printing.  The two still maintain jobs in those fields while running their two Your Pie locations.  Clay, a lifelong foodie, always had an itch to open a franchise but never found just the right one.  He was able to scratch that itch after he and Debi made a trip to one of Your Pie Founder Drew French’s locations in the Beechwood area of Athens.  The two fell in love with the customizable pizza concept, the family-friendly atmosphere, and the delicious pizza. The two opened their Watkinsville Your Pie in September 2010.  They opened their 2^nd location in on the East side of Athens in February 2013.  The couple has three boys, ages 8, 13, and 16, who attend Oconee County schools.

How did you learn about the brand?

Clay is a foodie so we go to new restaurants all the time.  We’d heard about this new place called Your Pie so we went and checked it out.  Clay had always been interested in opening a franchise, and had been thinking about it for 10 or 15 years.  We went to Drew’s (Your Pie Founder Drew French) store in Beechwood and loved it!  We liked the whole experience.  We loved the customizable pizza concept, the ingredients, and the beer and wine.  Your Pie is a completely family-friendly place.  Kids love it, and that’s been a really fun part of it.

What makes your business unique in the community?

You get to make your own pizza.  It’s as simple as that.  Being able to customize their own pizza is a big deal to our customers.  We have regulars who come in 3 or 4 times a week and our managers can start making their unique and personalized pie when they see them walking down the sidewalk toward the door.  We have great employees too and we’ve been very lucky in our hiring.  We have some of the high school kids and students from UGA.

Are you involved with any charities or do any community outreach with your business?

We do a lot of “Spirit Nights” where groups, organizations, and teams, come in and we give back a percentage of the profits to the group.  We host youth trivia nights.  We worked with Coaches vs. Cancer recently, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and we gave the prize of free pizza for a year to the winner.  We’re very active in our local church. 

What challenges have you overcome to get where you are now?

We, like most business owners, are constantly in a battle to keep our food and labor under control.  We gave a ton of discounts in our first year trying to get people in the doors, but we’ve had to adjust and adapt how we do things each year to make sure the experience is the best it can possibly be for our customers.

What are your expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with Your Pie?

We just opened our Athens – East Side location in February so we don’t have any plans to open up additional locations right now.  We’d like to focus on our two restaurants and make them the best they can be.

Do you have any superstar employees?

We have two great GMs at our restaurants who are actually brother and sister.  Caroline works at Watkinsville and her older brother Grant works at our Athens – East Side location…and their other brother works at the Watkinsville restaurant with Caroline.

Forrest is a fantastic employee who we actually interviewed at the Mexican restaurant next door before we were even open.  She was in high school when she started here, and is now in college.  Forrest won the Your Pie Lineage Scholarship last year.  This year, another one of our employees, Katie Hilton, won the Your Pie Lineage Scholarship.

Do you have any hobbies, pastimes, and passions outside of work?

We spend most of our time with the kids.  We just celebrated our 20^th anniversary and went to Mexico for a week which was fantastic.  We also stay involved with the school council, Oconee County Chamber of Commerce, and our church.

Franchisee Spotlight: Britt Hendrix, Statesboro, Georgia

After graduating from the University of Georgia, Britt Hendrix took a job in the field he’d earned a degree in, turf management.  However, he soon learned that he was more passionate about the restaurant industry, having worked in a restaurant the whole time he was in college.  With very little notice, Britt was contacted by Your Pie Founder Drew French about the opportunity to take over ownership of the Statesboro Your Pie location.  Britt jumped on the chance, and in a two month period had signed on to take over ownership, and moved to Statesboro the day before he assumed ownership of the location.  Britt is excited about trading in the red of the University of Georgia for the blue of Georgia Southern University and bringing a fresh energy to the Statesboro Your Pie.  He’s keeping the entire staff that was in place and is hoping to make the location a fun place for both families and the Georgia Southern crowd.

How did you learn about the brand?

After graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in turf management, I took a job as an assistant superintendent at The Landings in Savannah.  After working there for two years, I came to the conclusion that this wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life.  During my entire time attending UGA, I worked at a restaurant called Hilltop Grille.  Summer came, and I quit the job at The Landings and took a job at Stingrays at Tybee Island and worked the whole summer there right on the beach.  I had the summer of my life, and decided that the food industry is where I wanted to be.  After that summer, I moved back to Athens and went back to work at Hilltop Grille where I’d worked during college. I worked there for 6 months and had that moment where I realized I wasn’t in college anymore, so that lifestyle wasn’t for me.  I went back to Tybee Island for vacation and realized that I needed to open up my own restaurant to truly be happy.  I had been talking with Drew about opening up a Your Pie since I loved the place during my time at UGA, and I wanted to move back near Savannah.  The opportunity to take over the Statesboro Your Pie came out of nowhere.  Drew contacted me to let me know that the Statesboro location was up for sale because the owner had the Your Pie and some other businesses, including a brewery in the area that he wanted to focus on.  It kind of fell in my lap, so to speak, but it was perfect timing so I jumped on the opportunity.

I like the fact that by owning this Your Pie, I’m essentially creating my own job and taking control of my work life.  I had reached a point through my experience that I knew what I DIDN’T want to do, so this was an opportunity for me to create my own job and have my own business in an industry where I’m truly passionate.

How did you meet Drew and learn about the brand?

Me and my friends used to go to Your Pie when we were at the University of Georgia.  We’d go to the concerts there, and it was always a really good time.  I want to provide that lifestyle and experience with the Statesboro Your Pie now.  I met Drew after I contacted them to see if there were any opportunities available.  When I was deciding on what type of restaurant to open, I knew I didn’t want a fryer or a grill in my restaurant, so Your Pie was perfect for what I was looking to open.

What are your plans for the location?

We’re working right now to bring the craft beers back to the Statesboro Your Pie.  We’re going to do pitchers and flights of beer.  We’re going to have trivia, football, and live music.  I’m working to build a stage right now so that we can have live music.   I know a lot of bands from around the state, and I’m looking forward to them coming in to play.  I play myself, and so do some of the employees here, so I think it would be a lot of fun to play at my restaurant.  I mean, how many places can you go to where the owner is up on stage?  We’re also looking at getting heavily involved with Georgia Southern University and the fraternities and sororities on campus.

What makes your business unique in the community?

Your Pie is fresh and it’s healthy.  The Statesboro Your Pie is in a college town with students from Georgia Southern University.  It’s the same thing we did in college at UGA.  We looked for places that were classy, and it’s a nice pre-gaming spot before we went out for the night.  I want it to be a good first date place, a great place for singles to mingle, and that sort of a scene.  I also like that it can be a great place for families to come with the kids, enjoy the gelato, and have a good time.

Are you involved with any charities or do any community outreach with your business?

I’m planning to work with the local schools to help them out.  One day during the week, I want to have a uniform day so that any public service officials, nurses, doctors, anyone in uniform really, gets a discount.  I’m looking into what’s available and hoping to be a positive influence in the community.

What are your expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with Your Pie?

I am looking to open more Your Pie locations once I get this location up and running and successful.  I’d love to open up more in the area and keep expanding.

Do you have any superstar employees?

The staff is the same as it was before.  They’re all college kids and the transition has been great so far.  I’m not a whole lot older than them, so I can understand the problems they’re going through and can talk on their level.  It’s been great getting to know them, and we’re going to have a strong staff under my ownership.

One of my employees is fluent in three languages.  She is a graduate and spent time in China for study abroad.  She’s very diverse and interesting.  She tutors English for a German family.

Do you have any hobbies, pastimes, and passions outside of work?

                                                                                                                                          

I play acoustic guitar and write country and Southern rock music.  I’m hoping to be playing some acoustic sets at the location.  Two of my employees play guitar too, so I think it’ll be cool for us to be performing at our restaurant.

Georgia Oak Orders a Slice of Your Pie

Atlanta Firm Invests Equity Capital in Thriving Athens-based Customized Pizza Franchise Brand

ATLANTA – Your Pie and Georgia Oak Partners (“Georgia Oak”) announced today that they have entered into a partnership in which Georgia Oak will invest substantial growth equity into the emerging, customized pizza franchise brand. 

Georgia Oak’s capital infusion will be used to support Your Pie’s infrastructure growth and provide capital to promote further franchise expansion of the customized pizza franchise brand. The company has 17 locations in the southeastern United States and plans to open eight additional locations by the end of 2013.

“Our partnership with Georgia Oak will allow Your Pie to further innovate its delicious fast casual brand of pizza and to develop in more cities across the United States,” said Your Pie Founder Drew French.  “Georgia Oak’s approach of adding value to its investments in a variety of ways will improve our brand positioning, increase the support we offer our franchisees and, moving forward, sharpen our growth vision.”

“We are excited to join in this partnership with our Georgia neighbors at Your Pie,” said Mike Lonergan, Managing Partner of Georgia Oak.  “Your Pie has led the pack in the booming fast casual pizza category behind visionary leadership and with a proven concept that has been fine-tuned over the company’s five years of remarkable success. Georgia Oak Partners is proud to join Your Pie as the company continues their aggressive expansion in the Southeast and across the country.”

In addition to the financial support provided by Georgia Oak Partners, the partnership will include an investment of the company’s wealth of intellectual capital. David Barr, Director for Georgia Oak Partners, has more than two decades of success in the restaurant industry with experience as CEO of Great American Cookies, Inc., Chairman of Don Pablo’s, and on the board of directors of Mrs. Fields Cookies, TCBY, and Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group.  In addition, Barr has previous experience working for Pizza Hut as well as other national non-restaurant retailers.   Barr will work closely with existing management to guide the acceleration of franchisee and unit growth. 

About Your Pie

Your Pie is the world’s originator of the fast casual, brick-oven, customized personal pizza concept. Your Pie founder Drew French tapped his restaurant background and knowledge of the conveyor-driven quick-serve and married it with brick oven technology to create the highest quality pizza available in a fast and customized format for customers to enjoy.  Drawing from authentic family recipes from the Italian island of Ischia, Your Pie uses only fresh ingredients, homemade pizza sauces and salad dressings, and offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free pizzas, as well as traditional pizzas. As a result, the Your Pie brand has become a favorite of customers in communities throughout the southeastern U.S. and continues to expand with rapid franchisee development.  For more information about Your Pie or franchising opportunities, please visit www.yourpie.com.

About Georgia Oak Partners

Georgia Oak Partners is a highly differentiated investment platform focused on growth private equity investments in the Southeast US. Georgia Oak seeks to invest $2 to $10 million in privately owned companies in the transportation, manufacturing, business services, and consumer or restaurant sectors. Georgia Oak’s team includes seasoned industry executives who work to supplement incumbent management teams in accelerating performance and value. More information can be found at www.GeorgiaOakPartners.com.

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Your Pie Featured in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine

Your Pie was recently featured in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine in an article titled, "Fast-casual pizza segment heats up".

The article discusses the recent trend in the fast-casual pizza segment, mentioning that many claim the have been the first to create the build-your-own pizza concept. The article references the increasing competition in the market, citing it as a $31-billion segment. Your Pie is mentioned as the first fast-casual pizza concept to open in April of 2008.

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Fast-casual pizza segment heats up

By: Eric Stoessel

Several of the emerging fast-casual players claim to have created the build-your-own pizza concept, but the better question is who will be left standing. More than a dozen brands have debuted in the last five years and are now taking shape across the country, vying to become the dominant player in the growing gourmet pizza category.

It’s easy to see why. Fast casual has become a $31-billion segment since Chipotle began reinventing fast food 20 years ago. Consumers today want quality offerings made quickly. The limited-service pizza segment does $31 billion in sales and if you add casual Italian dining chains, pizza is part of a $50-billion marketplace.

Your Pie Featured in Jacksonville Business Journal

Your Pie was recently featured in the Jacksonville Business Journal in an article titled, "Will pizza be the next food fad to hit Jacksonville?"

The article touches upon the history of food fads in Jacksonville, including froyo, cupcakes, and gourmet burgers. Recently, they've seen an increase in the presence of a fast-casual pizza in the region. Your Pie is the first to be mentioned in the trend of the "better" pizzas.

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Will pizza be the next food fad to hit Jacksonville?

By: Ashley Gurbal Kritzer

Froyo. Cupcakes. Cronuts. Gourmet burgers.

What will be the next foodie fad to hit Jacksonville?

It’ll likely be an upscale take on pizza, served in a fast casual setting, an analyst said.

“We’re looking ahead and seeing better pizza concepts emerging,” said Mary Chapman, director of product innovation for Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based food industry analysis firm. “There are a handful of concepts around the country.”

Your Pie Featured in Tampa Bay Business Journal

Your Pie was recently featured in the Tampa Bay Business Journal in an article titled, "Restaurateurs on hold after reform mandate delayed".

The article discusses how some entrepreneurs are holding off on expansion plans due to the uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act. Your Pie CEO Bucky Cook discusses how Your Pie does not expect to be immediately impacted by the new laws. Bucky discusses Your Pie’s expansion plans in Tampa Bay and the surrounding area.

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Restaurateurs on hold after reform mandate delayed

By: Margaret Cashill

Some people in the restaurant industry are still waiting to find out the full implications of the Affordable Care Act, as well as the Obama administration’s decision to delay the employer mandate.

“I don’t know if any of us, including the people charged with enforcing it, fully understand it, even though the regulations have been written,” Bucky Cook, CEO of quick service build-your-own pizza chain Your Pie, said of the health care reform law.

Your Pie Featured on FastCasual.com

Your Pie was recently featured on FastCasual.com in an article titled, "Your Pie founder: Fast casuals will beat the $10-pizza chains".

The article, which includes great photos and a solid headline, talks about the inception of Your Pie and how founder Drew French built the concept with quality and innovation as paramount. The article also talks about how Your Pie supports franchisees and ensures their success. Overall, this was a really great brand piece that showcases the credibility of the concept.

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Your Pie founder: Fast casuals will beat the '$10-pizza chains'

By: Cherryh Butler

Pizza seems to be the new darling of the fast casual industry, but Drew French was one of the first to market the build-your-own pizza concept six years ago when he opened the first Your Pie in Georgia.

Upon arrival, customers tell pizza chefs whether they want white, wheat or gluten-free dough and then pick from eight sauces ranging from Ischia-inspired marinara, basil pesto or the chain's secret recipe BBQ sauce. Lastly, they choose among eight cheeses and more than 40 fresh vegetables and premium meats, such as Italian sausage and bacon.

"We then finish it in our brick oven so it gets kissed by the flame," French said. "They cook in a brick oven at very high temperatures, so it only takes 3 to 5 minutes to cook a pizza depending on how many toppings a customer chooses."

Your Pie Relaunches Contest on Facebook

Your Pie is about to relaunch its popular "What's Your Pie?" contest. This time, the contest will solely be housed on its Facebook page.

The "What's Your Pie?" contest asks customers to create their own pizza at their local Your Pie location. Pizza builders are asked to take a picture of their edible creation, name it, and then upload it to the Facebook page application with a list of the ingredients. Fans of Your Pie can then vote for their favorite creations. The pizza with the most votes at the end of the month will be crowned "Pie of the Month" and advance to the ultimate "Pie of the Year" competition.

The grand prize for the "What's Your Pie?" contest is a trip to the Italian island of Ischia, where the Your Pie concept was inspired. Founder Drew French first fell in love with the classic brick oven style of pizza baking while on his honeymoon with his wife Natalie, whose family is from the island. "It just makes sense to share the Ischia experience with the ultimate Your Pie enthusiast," French explained. The winning pizza will also be added to the menu at all Your Pie locations.

Voting takes place each month from the 1st to the 21st. Visit Your Pie's Facebook page to view the competition which relaunches on July 1, 2013.

Your Pie Featured on FastCasual.com

Your Pie was recently featured on FastCasual.com in an article titled, "Your Pie targeting multi-unit operators for growth".

The article announces the franchise growth of Your Pie and how the brand is seeking to double in locations. The article mentions the process of beginning a Your Pie franchise and the benefits of being a multi-unit operator.

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Your Pie targeting multi-unit operators for growth

Drew French, founder of Your Pie, is looking for multi-unit operators to grow the 18-unit brand.

Less than six years from the launch of his first Your Pie, French plans to add eight franchise restaurants in 2013. His goal is to identify multi-unit operators to join the franchise system and scale from the regional base already in place.

With a franchise fee of $25,000 and total investment averaging $350,000, a Your Pie franchise includes pre-opening development assistance for site selection and analysis, lease negotiation, architectural layout and restaurant design, comprehensive restaurant build out, four weeks of training, and full marketing and communications support.

Your Pie Featured in Athens Banner-Herald

Your Pie was recently featured in the Athens Banner-Herald in an article titled, "Your Pie aims to double number of restaurants in Southeast".

The article announces the franchise growth and how the brand looks to double in locations.  Also, the article talks about the number of locations in the country with reference to states, and about the expected number of locations Your Pie plans to expand to in the next five years. Founder Drew French says the brand has gotten better because of its franchisees, and franchisee Debi Huckaby added to the article stating  she joined the franchise “after ‘falling in love’ with the restaurant after their first visit” and “chose to invest in French’s pizzeria because the concept is ‘brilliant and easy to operate.’” 

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Your Pie aims to to double number of restaurants in Southeast

By: Katherine Sims

Your Pie, the Athens-based custom pizza franchise, is hoping to more than double it number of stores in the Southeast over the next several years.

There are now 17 Your Pie locations in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, and founder and CEO Drew French says the company expects to open another 10 to 20 stores in the Southeast over the next three to five years. But French said he also doesn’t want to lose sight of his shop’s roots.

“We know we have a business model that is well-received in many markets,” French said. “Our goal is to be a national brand, but we don’t want to outgrow our support system in Athens.”