Homemade Pizza Company

Wow, did I ever mess up. Not only did we not get to hear Gordon Montgomery, CMO of HomeMade Pizza Company, speak about his brand, he had a car full of family size cookies to share with the class.

You can learn more about the company on its web site. HomeMade Pizza Company was featured on Oprah in 2006. Here is the segment:



Here is a link to a more recent video from Crain's Chicago Business (3/09) that provides more detail on the company's background and future goals: Video link


Finally, here are some highlights of a Chicago Tribune article from September 2007.

"It's an idea that wasn't even half baked. Eric Fosse was in the diamond business in 1997 when the urge to open a pizza shop overwhelmed him. "We lived in Lake View at the time, and it made sense to us," said Fosse, now 45. "I don't think we thought it through that much. We figured if we sold a great pizza, people would come." He and partner/brother-in-law Matthew Weinstein, 34, then a college business student, and wife Audrey Fosse, 42, put up a few hundred thousand dollars—courtesy of friends and family—and opened the first HomeMade Pizza Co. store in the 1100 block of West Belmont. Diners, who pick up the pizza and bake it at home, went for the "all natural" pie the Chicago company peddled by emphasizing the purchase of locally grown produce. The original store, which the three owners relocated to 3430 N. Southport about four years ago, rang up about $150,000 in the first year. It's on track to do about $600,000 in sales this year. Revenue increased by about 10 percent per year at each shop in the now 16-store company.

It's this time of year, end of summer, that Fosse and crew are thinking a lot about growth. Harvest time sees them buying lots of produce for their pies and salads. The fall is a particularly busy time for the business. Folks who shied away from pizza places in the heat of summer are beginning to return. With the opening of a Homewood location this week, the roster of stores grows to 17. The chain last month opened two stores in Minneapolis; and over the next few weeks joining the fold will be stores in Andersonville, Arlington Heights, Oak Park, and St. Paul and Apple Valley, Minn.
The company will have five stores in the Minneapolis area by the end of the year. Another 20 stores are scheduled for next year, including a Washington, D.C., location. Even the number of owners has increased. The Fosses and Weinstein later welcomed a fourth owner when Glenn Deutsch, 43—who initially helped design the original store, menu and logo and came up with the name—bought in.

It seems their friends recognize a good thing, Fosse said. Brooke Shields, a college buddy of Audrey Fosse's, recently plugged the chain on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "She likes the products," Eric Fosse said. "We have a lot of friends like that. She just happens to be famous." Such expressed affinity is key for a business that's not the most convenient in its category, said Ron Paul, president of the restaurant and food research firm Technomic Inc. Parking around the stores is a persistent problem, and some customers have difficulty accepting a business model where the patrons of a carry-out pizza joint have to do the baking. "But their customers seem to be very loyal. The word of mouth on them is very favorable," Paul said. The take-and-bake concept has an appeal over that of frozen pizza in that it allows customers to choose their own toppings, and that the pizza is fresher, Paul said. "It's kind of a proven concept," Paul said. "The perception is that its better quality than frozen pizza and better than getting a fully cooked pizza and warming it up later. Freshness is equated to quality."

To make up for the error, Homemade Pizza Company will be the subject of the final exam. Look for the assignment later today.