Toppers Pizza Franchise
A hip pizza franchise with major personality, Toppers Pizza offers real Wisconsin cheese, fresh ingredients and high-tech apps for modern crowds.
$150,000
$10,000
71
2000
Whitewater,WI
Scott Gittrich
About Toppers Pizza
Toppers Pizza is a growing restaurant chain with over 80 locations, but it prioritizes service and quality as if it were a single hometown shop. The pizza place prides itself on crafting every pizza from scratch using handmade pizza dough and a wide range of fresh toppings that include artichoke hearts, applewood smoked bacon, garlic roasted tomatoes and thick cut pepperoni. The dough is made fresh every morning, and all pizza sauce is handmade as well.
This penchant for high-quality toppings, made-from-scratch everything and smartphone apps makes this chain especially popular with millennial and college crowds. It doesn’t hurt that Toppers Pizza also has an edgy vibe and lots of menu options that naturally go well with parties and beer, such as the chain’s famous cheese-covered Topperstix and pizza toppings that include buffalo chicken, nacho cheese, real cheddar and tater tots.
Franchise Unit Trends & Revenue
71
13
$1,062,634
* in 2024
Franchise Fees
$10,000
Veteran's Fee: $20,000
5.5%
Gross Sales
3.0%
Gross Sales
Why Choose Toppers Pizza?
Toppers Pizza brings a distinctive take on pizza that sets it apart from other national franchises. It consistently appeals to the quick service restaurant (QSR) market, and especially to individuals in the age group of 16–35, delivering average sales of over $900,000 per location in 2017. In part because of its commitment to awesome flavor, real ingredients and great customer relationships, in 2017 Toppers Pizza was featured prominently in the Top 40 Food and Beverage Franchises.
Modern tech plays a huge part of the brand’s success, and Toppers takes advantage of e-commerce, online ordering apps, an easy-to-use website and extensive social media relationships to connect with new and loyal customers. All aspects of ordering are accessible via any device, including smartphones and tablets. Toppers Pizza equips franchisees with access to all of these tools to create a solid reputation in local markets.
Starting Costs & Investment Requirements
$298,750 - $534,000
$400,000
$150,000
Training & Support
Training includes extensive training for owner and restaurant managers at Toppers Pizza headquarters in Wisconsin, consisting of up to 30 days of classroom instruction. At restaurant launch, a minimum of four Toppers Pizza representatives provide on-site training and opening services for at least seven days.
History
Toppers Pizza’s unique origin story actually begins with Domino’s Pizza. The founder of Toppers Pizza, Scott Gittrich, started off his career in the pizza industry in 1984, making deliveries for Domino’s and pulling 80-plus hour workweeks. After becoming a director of operations for the company and seeing what he felt were subpar ingredients and consistently poor service, Gittrich finally decided to cut ties in 1991.
That was the same year that he launched the first Toppers Pizza in Champaign, Illinois, where the University of Illinois is located. After a short time, Gittrich discovered how much college students loved his unique take on premium-but-scrumptious pizza, and he created the Toppers Pizza brand. Fast forward almost 30 years later, and the franchise has over 80 locations in 38 states, all equipped with the latest tech.
Ideal Candidate
Due to the Toppers Pizza brand’s signature style of passion and laid-back service, franchisees need to have a similarly energetic personality of their own. Core values revolve around getting along great with customers, creating a hip community hangout spot, having fun and putting out amazing pizza every time. Franchisees don’t need to have extensive experience with social media or e-commerce — these topics are covered in training — but it helps. The brand’s unconventional messaging and alt-rock persona are a good fit for owners who feel comfortable operating outside of traditional bounds. While having a college campus nearby is a plus, it’s not a requirement by any means.
Restaurant and Food Franchises
Franchises up to $500,000
This web page is not endorsed by or affiliated with any franchisor. Product and company names are trademarks of their owners and are used for referential purposes only.