Ben Allen, Buckhead's Daily Operations Manager

Ben Allen, Buckhead's Daily Operations Manager

Your Pie Regional Manager, Ben Allen, will be managing the daily operations of Your Pie’s first prototype restaurant. The new restaurant will be the first corporate location that is not under the sole ownership of founder Drew French; Your Pie recently partnered with Georgia Oak Partners, who will be part-owners of the new store.

Unlike other restaurants, which target the college crowd, this prototype store in Buckhead is located in a major commercial hub. Buckhead is home to a large number of young professionals, businesses, and residential high rises. “We wanted a prime location with heavy traffic to help further expand our reach into the Atlanta market,” Allen explained. “This will be the first store that features the new design and vibe that we want for all our stores moving forward. Rather than getting franchisees to travel to Athens, this Atlanta location will also be the restaurant that we will show all future potential franchisees.”

Allen has been a member of the Your Pie team since 2009, before the brand became a franchise operation. Since joining founder Drew French as a general staff member at his first Your Pie restaurant, Allen has made his way up to become the regional manager of the brand in 2011, acting as the first point of contact for all franchisees.  Allen assists Kevin Altman, the director of training, with training for all new stores in the first couple of weeks of their opening.

Allen grew up in Roswell, Ga. and majored in economics at the University of Georgia. It was through his fraternity that he first met French. After graduation, Allen worked for a healthcare staffing company until there was a merger and his offices dissolved in 2008. While trying to figure out his next move, French invited Allen to help out at his restaurant. Unexpectedly, Allen discovered a passion for the food industry and was appointed the general manager of Your Pie’s second location.

Allen volunteered to operate the new location and prototype store, confident that his experience and knowledge of the brand will help it successfully grow in the prime spot. 

Your Pie in the Birmingham Business Journal Inbox

Your Pie in the Birmingham Business Journal

Your Pie was recently featured in Birmingham Business Journal to announce plans for expansion in Birmingham. The article features interviews with Your Pie Founder Drew French, Your Pie CEO Bucky Cook, and Your Pie VP of Development Ken Caldwell. 

The article begins with information about the “build-it-yourself” pizza boom and then includes a quote from Ken Caldwell about how the culture of Your Pie fits perfectly in Birmingham. The article also features the history of Your Pie, the convenience and speed of the model, and then Ken is quoted again about expansion in the state of Alabama.

You can view the full article here.

Your Pie on The Morning Show, News 4 Jax, WJXT

Your Pie on The Morning Show, News 4 Jax, WJXT

Jacksonville owner, Mike Sims was joined by CEO Bucky Cook and two trusted employess and represented the Your Pie brand amazingly. They were able to personalize the Your Pie concept by explaining how the pies are made, and what goes into creating the pies. The two employees dazzled the viewers with dough tossing precision and tasty looking ingredients. Your Pie's Super Bowl specials were also highlited by a FS Graphic to show the community where to get their pie for the big game!



You can also view the video here.

Your Pie in Clay Today

Your Pie’s “Pie of the Year” winner, Cheri Walker was in Clay Today to talk about the overall contest that took place on Your Pie’s Facebook page. The article gives details about Your Pie’s “Pie of the Year” competition that was won by Fleming Island resident Cheri Walker.



You can view the full article here.

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.