Little Caesars comeback

[Super S]

As I type this, I am enjoying a pizza from a Little Caesars that reopened in Longview, WA. Ironically, this one reopened in the same shopping center, Triangle Mall, although the original location was demolished when the mall was redeveloped several years back.

I have been noticing many places where Little Caesars has been popping up, a lot of them are places where they once had a strong presence.

What I was wondering though...Knowing Kmart and Little Caesars had a strong partnership, Did Kmart's problems play a role in the disappearance of the many Little Caesars locations that were not located in Kmart stores?

[Brian Lutz]

These used to be all over the place around here, but there's only been one new one that's reopened in the area (kind of buried in a residential neighborhood in Kirkland) since they started coming back. It looks like Seattle and the North end have quite a few though, and there's at least a couple south of here as well.

[storewanderer]

The $5 and $5.99 Large Pizzas that have been value engineered heavily (but are still decent for the price especially if you get a fresh one) have sparked new life to this chain. It is interesting to see the formula they are using. Basically all prepared food and counting on high volumes with minimal customization to grow traffic. With the $5 or $5.99 price point, they have made it easy to also add on some breadsticks, salad, and/or soda and still get out for around $10 with quite a bit of food, and quickly.

I have noticed differences between locations that kind of annoy me. The older ones are $5 for a 1 topping large, accept credit cards. I understand if you buy one pizza with a card there is probably hardly any profit. The newer ones are a mix between prices and payment options. One is $5.99 large and does not accept credit cards but accepts pin-based debit cards with a 75cent processing surcharge. I know of another newer one that does 3.99 larges one day a week as some sort of customer appreciation. I don't know how they can do that!

They have a few older locations in Reno/Sparks that held on through everything and it is sure interesting to see how the traffic has picked back up at those locations. It may also help that a lot of independent and other pizza operations have been closing stores.

But when you provide an acceptable product at a reasonable price, you will get customers. And that is just what this chain is doing. And I applaud them for it! Is is the best pizza you can find? Hardly. Is it the worst pizza you can find? Absolutely not. The dough is mixed in the store daily, sauce is mixed from a plain tomato base and spice packet added, most vegetables are fresh, and they use real cheese.

[Super S]

I think they offer an excellent value for the money. There are definitely worse pizzas, and there are many better pizzas. And there are some more expensive pizzas that taste worse than a cheap Totino's frozen pizza. All in all, though, they have a good formula for a take-out pizza franchise.

[krogerclerk]

Little Caesars are disappearing from area Kmarts, but they have begun to expand again in the NW GA area. The addition of the 3-meat pizza for $8 to the Hot and Ready menu allows for a decent pizza for the price. Hot and Ready seems to be very popular for parties and after game eats, so what Little Caesars sacrifices in profit is made up by the volume gains.

[tesg]

They had completely disappeared from whole markets, including mine, about ten years ago. It's hard to put a target on why, because they chain is privately held, and they don't talk much.

A few years ago, a new store appeared on the east side of my town. Now we have multiple locations around town.

I guess the "Hot n Ready" business model is working for them. It IS a decent pizza for $5.00. At that price, you're even competing favorably against the frozen pizza section of your local supermarket.

[Super S]

I guess the "Hot n Ready" business model is working for them. It IS a decent pizza for $5.00. At that price, you're even competing favorably against the frozen pizza section of your local supermarket.

I will agree. Not only that, but it also competes favorably to some extent with take & bake chains like Papa Murphy's, with the added benefit of not having to cook it once you get home.