Wetzel is more interested in development and marketing, while Phelps has a passion for finance and the operations side. "Having lived in a world of doing all of these start-ups, we wanted to help people come back to work and thought we could use our knowledge and Rolodex and help a young chef and his wife with a concept and help them grow it.". Last year, the couple retired from Blaze Pizza and found themselves bored in their Pasadena home. Not on a fine dining level but high-quality Michelin-level food in a much more approachable and casual dining concept.". This cookie is used to serve the visitor with relevant contents and advertisement. No one has taken what KFC has done and elevated it. For fast-casual restaurants, people are coming in and they want to get that same high-quality pizza dough that theyre looking for, but they dont want to wait a half hour for it to be made and topped and turned in the oven and then rested and then cut, Pote says. The elections were over. The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. But I think that what None of this success would be possible without the advent of new technologies that press and bake pizza in a few short minutes. And Blaze Pizza doesnt just have the Wetzels Pretzels success to tout; executive chef Bradford Kent is one of the most highly acclaimed pizza chefs in the country, and the brand counts former California first lady Maria Shriver, basketball superstar LeBron James, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, and Panda Express founder Andrew Cherng among its investors. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. "We want to secure the brand and position ourselves as the leader in this space," Wetzel said. Rick Wetzel and his wife, Elise, were the ones who dreamed up the Blaze make-your-own-pizza concept in 2011. The NPD Groups Riggs says the winners in the better-pizza category will be those brands that best create a unique position in the marketplace. "LeBron and I have always been about finding companies that we truly believe in and putting real money into them," Carter said. Including endorsement payments, which will trigger in the near future on an undisclosed sales target, James' stake in the business is worth $35 million to $40 million, according to sources. I experience burnout if I dont take the time to recharge. While he stresses the importance of getting away from the office, he does admit he feels a keen responsibility to take at least one call while out of the office. "We're helping some younger people.". This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. line, begin adding and taking away ingredients, or they "Here we are down on our luck, having had to close our restaurant again because of the pandemic taking its toll not just on us but restaurants everywhere. "I've said in previous interviews that I only know one speed, and that's very fast," Wetzel said. Entrepreneurs Rick and Elise Wetzel may have founded Wetzels Pretzels and Blaze Pizza, each of which has hundreds of locations, but the duo does not consider themselves to be restaurateurs. That chef-run scene was not there back then. This cookie collects the statistical data of the visitor for serving targeted ads. To many people that might be The first Taco/Social opens this fall in Eagle Rock. For James and Carter, the true upside of their investment might not be close to being realized. An eavesdropping stranger told them soft fresh-baked bread pretzels were really tasty. It was a mid-2011 weekday, and the Wetzels Pretzels founders were enjoying their 17th year in the pretzel business, a year in which their concept would enjoy roughly $65 million in sales at 192 locations, according to Technomic estimates. White papers, e-books and other publications for changemakers. Personal: Phelps and his wife, Megan, live in San Marino. The goal is to bring a new style of healthy fried chicken into the market. The packaging has been sustainable 800 Degrees out of Los Angeles is owned by Umami Burger parent Umami Restaurant Group, while cross-town peer The Pizza Studio is headed by former Baja Fresh and Burger King executive Ron Biskin and fellow L.A. brand PizzaRev is financially backed by sports-bar giant Buffalo Wild Wings. He and his wife mostly wanted to use their knowledge and give back to a new generation of restaurant entrepreneurs. The result is a lighter, crispier exterior crust, Chris said. But its not just Millennials who are flocking to these better-pizza brands. This cookie is used for advertising campaigns on the website. The two werent exactly planning to expand their foodservice portfolio to include a national fast-casual pizza joint, but they wanted pizza for lunch. Wetzel first learned to think about consumer behavior when she studied economics as an undergrad and earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, where she was part of the 28% Club, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the percentage of women students at Kellogg when she attended. The duo are very proud of the fact that whether you It contain the user ID information. Whats cool is people get to be individualistic; its all about being yourself, and I think today thats been more and more accepted as people want to express themselves even outwardly.. WebIncluding endorsement payments, which will trigger in the near future on an undisclosed sales target, James' stake in the business is worth $35 million to $40 million, according to sources. "It was too calm for us," said Rick Wetzel, 63. get inspired by the people ahead of them. Once they closed on the building in Eagle Rock, Wetzel said that his wife Elise began looking into all of the different fried chicken businesses and concepts before discovering a small stall at the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles: Lucky Bird. "The risk-reward equation is not generally that great, and there's a lot of grinding and blocking and tackling, and it takes a while for a concept to go global.". Wetzel and his wife, Elise, live in Pasadena. Another California-based brand, Project Pie, was founded by James Markham, who previously conceived MOD Pizza and Pieology. In May 2022, the company expanded to Atlantic Canada. LOS ANGELES Chris and Christine Dane had just shut down their restaurant Lucky Bird at the Grand Central Market for the second time due to the coronavirus pandemic when Christine received an unlikely message on LinkedIn. These were two high-powered food and beverage professionals with decades of experience and success just sitting at home. at night at a reasonable hour and will oftentimes say So now, the two power couples partner and embark on a venture to add their "California-comfort food and California-inspired fried chicken" into the highly competitive fried chicken marketplace. Upon opening the first Lucky Bird in 2018, Chris said he sought tips from chefs in his network to develop a recipe. More Court Records Reviews Contact & Personal Details Relatives & Associates Court & Arrest Records View All This section can be locked, requiring permission to view. This information is them used to customize the relevant ads to be displayed to the users. "There are a lot of things we can do here [in Eagle Rock] that we weren't able to do at GCM because of the lack of space," Chris said, explaining how their downtown location is only 700 square feet. In 2015, James and Carter, with three years and $14 million left on LeBron's McDonald's deal, had a decision to make. Hope to see Blaze in NH sometime soon! "Who doesn't know Wetzel's Pretzels?" the fastest growing restaurant chain ever. PublicPrivate Court, Arrest or Criminal Records The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". great team here and their partnership with Alshaya. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Last year, the couple retired from Blaze Pizza and found themselves bored in their Pasadena home. Its just a customized world theyve grown up in; they havent known anything different. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". As chief brand Christine was shocked. As he contemplates how he leads his team, Rick excitedly alludes to a corkboard he has in his office full of sticky notes with meaningful quotes and leadership tips. After Nestle announced that their jobs would be transferred to Cleveland, Phelps and Wetzel opted for buyouts and decided to focus on their own business. Rick studied marketing at the University of Tulsa and earned his MBA from the University of Southern California. 88 Wetzel: I sold my stake in 2007 to a private equity firm, Levine Leichtman, which paid eight figures for the business. Jalen Rose analyzes what it means that LeBron James' pizza franchise is opening a new location inside of the Staples Center. [10], By the end of 2014, Blaze had become the first fast-casual pizza restaurant to achieve 50 opened units. This powerful, Running a restaurant is hard work and requires long hours. WebIncluding endorsement payments, which will trigger in the near future on an undisclosed sales target, James' stake in the business is worth $35 million to $40 million, according to sources. who they are and what they have done. WebAll Rick and Elise Wetzel wanted was to have some pizza for lunch. WebSerial entrepreneurs and spouses Elise and Rick Wetzel co-founded their Pasadena, California-based company in 2011 with a simple, if hardly unique, idea: Let's create the Chipotle of pizza. Were still waiting for Culvers to come to Pasadena! Wetzel discusses the chains evolution and how NBA star James came to invest in the concept, and what impact hes had on the brand. Its Random Acts of Kindness Day! Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. They immediately started sketching out plans for a build-your-own pizza shop. If you didnt know who They looked around at all of the different food and beverage concepts and saw something missing in the fried chicken category. The restaurant industry overall is forecast to grow only 4 percent in a 10-year period, so less than a half a percent a year, says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant analyst at The NPD Group. tweaks to perfect their operations in Kuwait. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. "We are shooting the bar higher," Chris Dane said. that pizza as a concept is very translatable. This cookie is used for promoting events and products by the webiste owners on CRM-campaign-platform. has happened here has surpassed anyones expectations. As customers work their way down the service line, staff assemble a pizza based on customer instructions. me. Now we have dining options close to home that are as good as the Arts District and Westside. Sittercity founder Genevieve Thiers is putting her Bienen School of Music opera training to good use every Saturday afternoon throughout the pandemic, livestreaming a concert of opera and musical theater favorites. These cookies can only be read from the domain that it is set on so it will not track any data while browsing through another sites. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Elise Wetzel, the co-founder of Blaze Pizza and wife of Wetzel's Pretzels co-founder Rick Wetzel, wanted to learn more about Lucky Bird. With a lot His belief in empowering others and letting them take charge of their path has enabled him to build successful businesses in his 25 years as an entrepreneur. We only know one speed and that is go very fast. This cookie is set by pubmatic.com. The Wetzels were hardly alone in realizing that pizza was the next fast-casual frontier. texture that was both chewy and crunchy even though it A video filmed in April of James behind a Blaze Pizza counter dressed up undercover as "Ron" garnered millions of YouTube hits and much news coverage. Pasadena is a tentpole of the San Gabriel Valley. "We don't typically advocate for our clients to invest in food businesses," Wachter said. This is a Lijit Advertising Platform cookie. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In his early 20s, he owned a video rental store and later became a brand manager at Nestle. This cookie is set by the provider Yahoo.com. Food Safety is the premier cloud based food safety app. a signature, then as they progress down the assembly Those guys have lots of help, lots of connections. Musks master plan for Tesla is built around sustainable energy economy, What to expect from Elon Musks third master Tesla plan, Drugmaker Eli Lilly to slash insulin prices, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? He also said they eventually do talk about pizza in According to their documentation, whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. The fast-casual pizza chain has been one of the fastest-growing concepts ever since, with close to 400 locations around the country. Like teenagers: Phelps, 57, is now the companys chief executive, and Wetzel, 54, is president. Rick and his wife, Elise, founded Blaze in 2011. Instead, the fried chicken sector was either fast food or high-end. Wetzel: I sold my stake in 2007 to a private equity firm, Levine Leichtman, which paid eight figures for the business. The question is going to be, How is it going to shake out? welcoming and very passionate about their work. Alshaya as their partner was their one and only Plan A. This fall marks 150 years since women could enroll as Northwestern undergraduate students. Ten years ago, people didnt even know what truffle was, and here we are, its one of our top three selling pizzas, Ryan says. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. This cookie is set by the provider OpenX. We would say membership has its privileges, like the line in the womens room wasnt very long. (The Kellogg Class of 2020 is a record-high 46% women. He says guests want to watch their meals being made, want to see it go in and out of the oven. This cookie is set by the provider Sonobi. WebEntrepreneurs Rick and Elise Wetzel may have founded Wetzels Pretzels and Blaze Pizza, each of which has hundreds of locations, but the duo does not consider themselves to be restaurateurs. Brad Kent, Natasha Trethewey believes in the healing power of poetry as she confronts a family tragedy and the misapprehensions of American history. On Thursday, the Wetzels and Danes opened a new brick-and-mortar Lucky Bird at 1627 Colorado Blvd. Wetzel, who had been teased in the schoolyard with Hey Wetzel, you pretzel, kept his mouth shut. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. A friend who was a marketing consultant finally pointed out the obvious that not using Wetzel and Pretzel would be a complete waste. It register the user data like IP, location, visited website, ads clicked etc with this it optimize the ads display based on user behaviour. In his early 20s, he owned a video rental store and later became a brand manager at Nestle. To learn about Northwesterns 150 years of women and remarkable individuals like Elise Wetzel present and past whove left their mark on the University and the world, visit the 150 Years of Women website. the end. [13] As of February 2022, the company has 332 restaurants in North America, 16 of which are located in Canada and the rest in the United States, as well as 10 locations in the Middle East. In partnership with Alshaya, Blaze opened its first location outside of North America in the Middle Eastern nation of Kuwait in March 2018. Companies new and old are taking cues from Chipotles use of high-quality ingredients and customization, but more importantly, theyre realizing the potential that fast casual offers in reinventing an American staple. Entrepreneurs Rick and Elise Wetzel may have founded Wetzels Pretzelsand Blaze Pizza, each of which has hundreds of locations, but the duo does not consider themselves to be restaurateurs. Im really getting tired of that, says Randy Grier, CEO of Pie Five parent Pizza Inn Holdings, with a laugh. The rest of the better-pizza category is littered with familiar faces, fat wallets, and operational know-how. Linkedin - Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. When asked how he avoids burnout, Rick responds candidly, I dont. [5], The Blaze ovens are "7 foot (2.1m)-wide gas-fired (60,000BTU (63,000kJ)) unit operated at average temperatures of 700F (371C) to 800F (427C)," according to the company's executive chef. Andrew says he assembled an executive team with more than 50 combined years of franchise experiencea team including other former Moes execsand is using their expertise to sprint toward top-dog status in the fast-casual pizza space. remain true to the Blaze brand. Only six pizza brands made it into the QSR 50 this yearPizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns, Little Caesars, Papa Murphys, and CiCisand the three fastest-growing outside-the-home pizza categories are C-stores, grocery stores, and price clubs, according to The NPD Group. Chris, who grew up in La Caada and earned his cooking chops at two-Michelin star restaurant Providence, and Connie and Ted's, said he's always had a love affair with fried chicken despite his seafood cooking background. The long lines at Blaze Pizza can be attributed to Because Blaze is a young and modern brand, these And they all want to be the Chipotle of pizza. Each category seems to play out with a large player, a strong competitor, and then the regionals.. This leadership board serves as a constant reminder to abide by his three key qualities of leadership: be wildly optimistic, be steady and consistent, and provide the path to a great vision. Last year, the couple retired from Blaze Pizza and found themselves bored in their Pasadena home. In the past couple of years, the sector has grown tremendously. All these restaurants in townAgnes, Entre Nous, Union, Bacchus Kitchen, AltaEatsare chef-run restaurants. [14] [15] Rick and his wife, Elise, founded Blaze in 2011. That doesn't include his partnership with restaurateur Larry Levy, who runs franchises in Miami and Chicago for him. order anything you want on the pizza, or really in a way This cookie is a session cookie version of the 'rud' cookie. [16] The first Canadian location was opened in Toronto in October 2015,[17] followed by openings a few months later in Calgary in February 2016[18] and Edmonton in April 2016. to join their team, he was already the owner of a very They joke that the partnership was like getting married on a first date. 10,000, including franchise store employees. Rick Wetzel is Sources interviewed for this story are torn on whether the rise in fast-casual pizza brands will affect major players like Dominos and Papa Johns. Exquisite indulgence for lovers of French inspired sweets, This collection has us counting down to New Year's Eve, ENJOY THE TRUE FLAVORS OF ISTANBUL IN KUWAIT AT EMIRGAN SUTIS, BURGAN BANK LEADING THE WAY IN EXCELLENCE, THE UNPARALLELED WALDORF ASTORIA KUWAIT SPA EXPERIENCE, 8 CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS TO GET INVOLVED WITH IN KUWAIT. Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. I asked them if they expected this level of success They joined And Andrew at Uncle Maddios says his chains casual atmosphere and range of menu itemswhich also include paninis and saladsis similarly attracting a diverse consumer base. Love the concept and the brand you have built. Rick was quick to say, This cookie is set by the provider Infolinks. 2022, the sector has grown tremendously to watch their meals being made want. 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