Pizza Patrón

Pizza Patrón
Industry Restaurants
Founded 1986
Founder Antonio Swad
Headquarters San Antonio, Texas
Products Pizza,
Website www.pizzapatron.com

Pizza Patrón Inc. is a United States pizza chain headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.[1]

Pizza Patrón operates locations in Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas. The chain opens locations in mainly Hispanic neighborhoods, catering primarily to the Hispanic market.[2] In addition to the franchise's 100 locations across the southwest, 40 more are currently under development. The franchise's logo features a face in a fedora hat (earlier logos did not include a face). The chain's original slogan was Más Pizza. Menos Dinero. (Spanish for "More Pizza. Less Money.") Pizza Patrón was founded in 1986 by Antonio Swad, of Lebanese and Italian descent. Swad is also known for founding the Wingstop brand, which he sold in 2003 to focus on growing the Pizza Patrón brand. He currently acts as the president of Pizza Patrón; the Brand Director since 2003 is Andrew Gamm.

Corporate Headquarters

In 2006 Pizza Patrón successfully introduced new products like Patrón Dippers and Fiesta Wings, and established its "Lista" (ready now) pizza program nationally. In addition, Pizza Patrón developed a dine-in store model, the Pizza Patrón Rapidito (airports/malls) model, the "Tiendita" (portable mini-store extension) and its "Lista" drive-through concept. These progressive additions to the concept were largely responsible for the 34.55% increase in business that Pizza Patrón experienced in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2006.[3]

Pizza por Pesos

In January 2007, Pizza Patrón announced its new "Pizza por Pesos" policy which enabled the chain's customers to pay for pizzas with Mexican pesos for a limited time. Though the company was not the first to implement such a policy in the United States, the move came at a time of increasingly heated debate over illegal immigration in the United States and caused the chain's Dallas headquarters to receive complaints and death threats.[4] It also created publicity for the chain, garnering media attention from several outlets (including Fox News and The Colbert Report). After the first week of the promotion, one owner reported that he took in about $15,000 pesos (close to $1,400 USD) at his two southern California branches, accounting for roughly 20% of his profits.[5]

On May 3, 2007, the company reported that sales in the first three months of 2007 were up 35% compared to sales during the first three months of 2006. The company attributed the strong growth in sales to publicity generated by news reports about the "Pizza for Pesos" campaign and said that its policy of accepting pesos, originally scheduled to last only until the end of April, was being made permanent.[6]

"Pizza Por Favor" crowds line up for free pizza on June 6, 2012
Pizza Patrón branded vehicle
Pizza Patrón location - Gulfton, Houston, Texas

Pizza por Favor

On June 5, 2012, Pizza Patrón launched its "Pizza por Favor" promotion offering a free large pepperoni pizza to any customer who ordered in Spanish. The event sparked controversy and criticism from conservative groups. The Conservative Caucus, an organization that advocates for English as the official national language of the United States, criticized “Pizza Por Favor,” and on the day in May when the promotion was announced, Pizza Patrón’s email servers were maliciously hacked into. The company received international news coverage and gave away 80,000 pizzas during the one-day promotion, including 50,000 during the three-hour window it advertised plus another 30,000 in free-pizza coupons given to people still waiting in line after supplies ran out and business hours closed.

Bitcoin

On February 11, 2014, Revel Systems, a provider of iPad Point-of-Sale systems, announced that Pizza Patron had chosen its POS solution for its chain of stores, making it the first pizza chain able to accept bitcoin payments.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. "Contact Us." Pizza Patrón. Retrieved on December 30, 2011. "Pizza Patrón Inc. 10999 Petal Street Suite 200 Dallas, TX 75238"
  2. Jargon, Julie (December 30, 2010). "Pizza Chain Remixes Ads For Slice of Bicultural Pie". The Wall Street Journal. p. B1.
  3. "Pizza Patron Sees Staggering Fourth Quarter Sales". Pizza Patrón (Press release). 2007-01-22. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  4. "Pizza promotion met with death threats - CNN.com". The Associated Press. Dallas, Texas. 2007-01-11. Archived from the original on 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  5. Altman, Larry (2007-01-16). "'Pizza por Pesos' translates into profits in Wilmington". Daily Breeze. Wilmington, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  6. Despite Death Threats and National Debate Pizza Patron(R) Will Continue to Accept 'Pesos for Pizza'
  7. Is Square A True Point-Of-Sale Player After Its Whole Foods Deal? A Bitcoin-Friendly Rival Says No
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