Promotion Firm Is Looking for a Pizza the Action

America’s mom-and-pop pizza joints are tired of being muscled out by such giants as Pizza Hut and Domino’s. Now, with help from the U.S. Pizza Network, the little guys are ready to fight back.

The brainchild of an Italian immigrant, San Diego-based USPN is offering the nation’s 50,000 independent pizza stores a chance to increase their slice of the industry pie, estimated at $16 billion, by banding together and becoming more aggressive.

“The little guy’s got a better pizza and better service, no question,” said Michael Piancone. “But he’s losing the war because he can’t afford TV advertisements or mass mailings.”

Enter USPN with its first-ever pizza business tabloid, pizza credit cards and pizza stamps for customers of USPN affiliates. And USPN pizza ads on MTV to reach the lucrative 18-to-25-year-old market.

Piancone has the right background to lead the charge. He began making pizzas shortly after arriving in the United States in 1963 and went on to open 33 pizza parlors along the East Coast.

Soviet Pizza Parlors

Since relocating to San Diego, Piancone has sold commercial pizza equipment and marketed a line of frozen pizza. His brother, Louis, is now in Moscow opening the first Soviet pizza parlors.

“I know every angle of this business,” said the 47-year-old pizza general. “I understand the mentality of pizza.”

Piancone and other independents are angry that the chains, which have grown from 10% to 40% of the industry since 1968, are eating up a disproportionate share of the market.

The top five U.S. chains, encompassing 10,000 outlets, bring in $5 billion annually, with each store accounting for $500,000. By contrast, the 50,000 independents gross $10 billion a year, or $200,000 each.

And the giants are just getting bigger, said Piancone, because they enjoy name recognition and sheer financial clout.

“Thirty years ago, there was no such thing as pizza chains. Now, you’ve got a Domino’s on one side, a Pizza Hut on the other side, then Little Caesar’s comes along, and they’re all offering two for one, or two pizzas for $8.88.

“We can’t afford to offer two for one,” he said. “So we have to come up with something else, something special.”

That something is a combination of appeal and convenience to the young adults who constitute 86% of all pizza consumers.

In the coming months, USPN will start distributing 2 million credit cards directly to young consumers, who will have a monthly $100 limit and can only use the cards at a USPN member store.

Just Want Money

Each time a customer uses the interest-free USPN card, he or she will receive USPN stamps that can be applied for discounts on movie or concert tickets. If the idea catches on, Piancone wants to set up a toll-free concert hot line so cardholders can charge tickets to their USPN accounts.

“Nobody extends credit or does anything for these young people because nobody trusts them,” said Piancone. “They just want their money.

“Well, we’ll give them $100 credit to start with and, if they keep their noses clean, we’ll give them more credit. As they grow, we’ll grow with them.”

Along with its appeal to the college trade, the $100-a-month USPN membership enables independent stores to buy equipment and supplies at a discount (1,000 free personalized boxes a month is the first membership perk).

And members can keep up with industry trends through the monthly USPN Journal, a three-color tabloid loaded with insider news and wholesale supplier ads.

The second issue features advice from a resident “pizzaologist” on dough mixers, a tax tips column, news of the upcoming National Pizza and Pasta Show in Chicago and an editorial decrying the infiltration of pizza-quiches. (“Don’t try to fool your kids with a pizza quiche. They’ll know something’s wrong.”)

The journal’s mom-and-pop flavor reflects the character of local pizza parlors and Piancone doesn’t want to tamper with that. “These are individuals, and we’re not going to tell them what to do--change the sauce, change the ingredients.”

Eventually, Piancone would like to have one USPN store per ZIP code or 20,000 members nationwide. With that kind of clout and a loyal college following, hard-working independents can reclaim some turf, he said.

“Let’s give some of this industry back to the little guys who started it,” he said. “Let’s share and share alike.”