Vocelli Pizza
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| Vocelli Pizza | |
|---|---|
| Image:Vocellipizzalogo.jpg | |
| Type | Wholly owned subsidiary |
| Founded | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (1988) |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
| Key people | Varol Ablak & Seckin Ablak, (founders) Harry Ablak (CEO) |
| Industry | Fast food |
| Products | Pizza, Pasta |
| Website | Pizza Outlet |
Vocelli Pizza (formerly Pizza Outlet) is a pizzeria based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of 2007, the chain has stores in the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.[1] The trade magazine Pizza Today ranked Vocelli Pizza in their Top 100 pizza franchises for 2007, based on its 2006 sales of $55 million.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Pizza Outlet Years
The chain was founded in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh in 1988 as Pizza Outlet. What was simply a local pizza shop quickly expanded in the Pittsburgh Tri-State region during the 1990's. During this time, their slogan was "Delivering Great Taste to Your Door". They also briefly used "The Taste that SCREAMS Fresh!" as well before reverting back to their old slogan.
This era is best remembered for featuring current TNA wrestler Kurt Angle (after his gold medal win in the 1996 Summer Olympics but before his seven-year stint in World Wrestling Entertainment) in a commercial[3] featuring two CGI-animated pizza toppings that the chain had been using as mascots at the time wrestling each other on top of a pizza Angle had just ordered. The Rock later poked fun at Angle and the campy commercial on an episode of WWE Raw in Angle's hometown after Angle had established himself in the WWE.
[edit] Change to Vocelli's
After experiencing fast growth throughout the 1990's in its home market, the chain entered select markets in the Southern United States. However, the chain wasn't as successful.
Instead of withdrawing from these markets to focus on the more successful (and more competitive) Pittsburgh market, Pizza Outlet instead change the name of their Southern locations to Vocelli Pizza in 2002, and adopting an Italian theme in the restaurant in the process. Previously, the Pizza Outlet locations had no specific theme inside each location.
Despite the changes, the product itself remained the same. Nevertheless, sales at the Southern stores skyrocketed after the change. So much so, that the company reverted plans to keep the Pizza Outlet name in Pittsburgh and the remaining Pizza Outlet stores were rebranded as Vocelli Pizza in 2003.[4] The company also cited the name change as to be more classy compared to the generic-sounding Pizza Outlet.
Today, Vocelli continues to expand, and is currently ranked as one of the fast-growing pizzeria's in the United States.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Vocelli Pizza - Store Locator
- ^ "Top 100 Companies" (September 2007). Pizza Today: 78, 79.
- ^ YouTube - Kurt Angle Pizza Commercial
- ^ Scott-based Pizza Outlet is suddenly Vocelli Pizza
- ^ About Vocelli Pizza
[edit] External links
Vocelli Pizza's Official Web Site
Vocelli Pizza's Online Ordering
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