Nation’s leading fast-casual pizza restaurant celebrates Sunshine State debut January 13th
The pizza dining experience in Florida is about to get fresher, tastier, faster and, well…better!
The first of 25 planned Florida locations of trend-setting Pie Five Pizza is set to open Monday, January 13th, at the Gateway Center in Port Orange. Local restaurateur L. Gale Lemerand was one of the first developers to sign on with Pie Five. He’s moving quickly to introduce the nation’s leading fast-casual pizza brand to the state, after seeing the concept catch fire in other markets.
At Pie Five, guests can choose from more than a million combinations of handcrafted pizzas and a variety of specialty pie choices prepared in less than five minutes on one of four crusts – all for one great price. The rapidly expanding brand is capitalizing on growing consumer demand for fresh dining options and artisan pizzas in stylish environments without the wait.
“I’m thrilled to be introducing Pie Five to my home state because I know Floridians will appreciate our quality, variety, remarkable preparation time and great prices,” said Lemerand, one of Florida’s most successful entrepreneurs and sole owner or partner in 30 popular restaurants across the state. “Once people see how easy it is to get their own perfect pizza custom-made with whatever toppings they want all for one great price, they’ll be fans just like me!”
Pie Five has been named a 2013 Top 50 Restaurant Brand of the Year, a 2012 Hot Concepts winner by Nation’s Restaurant News and one of “10 Hot New Restaurant Chains from Established Brands” by Forbes.com.
At Monday’s grand opening, the Port Orange Chamber of Commerce will conduct the official ribbon cutting for the restaurant at 4 p.m. In addition, 103.3 WVYB-FM will be broadcasting live from Pie Five from 4 – 6 p.m. Five lucky guests will win “Free Pizza for a Year” in a drawing to be held during the radio show. (Must be present to win.)
“We’ve said all along that we couldn’t have asked for a better franchise partner in Florida than Gale,” said Madison Jobe, chief development officer for Dallas-based Pie Five. “Gale’s track record speaks for itself, and we can’t wait to celebrate his success.”
Lemerand has signed two development agreements to bring a total of 25 Pie Five restaurants to Florida, covering the Orlando, Gainesville, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, St. Augustine and Jacksonville markets. He recruited the former Managing Partner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, John Tintsman, as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer to support the expansion. Kevin Ringueberg recently joined the team as Director of Training & Development.
With the Port Orange opening, Pie Five Pizza will have 13 locations in Texas, two each in Kansas and Utah, and one each in Florida and North Carolina. More than 150 announced franchise units are currently under contract in Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington, DC.
Florida’s first Pie Five restaurant, located at 1781 Dunlawton Ave., #7, in Port Orange’s Gateway Center at the I-95 interchange, will be open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. A complete menu and more information are available at www.piefivepizza.com.
Pie Five Pizza Co. is a subsidiary of Pizza Inn Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZI), headquartered in the Dallas suburb of The Colony, Texas. Pie Five is a trend-setting, fast-casual concept offering individual handcrafted pizzas with fresh ingredients made to order and prepared in less than five minutes. First introduced in 2011, Pie Five Pizza currently has 19 locations in five states with more than 150 announced franchised units under contract in 12 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit www.piefivepizza.com.
