COLUMBUS, OH – Sbarro, a quick-service restaurant known for its XL New York style pizza by the slice, announced in September a nationwide rebranding and the first of its free-standing locations opening this month in its hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
“This move represents a real progression of the brand and a glimpse into the Sbarro of the future,” said J. David Karam, CEO of Sbarro. “We’ve listened to our customers and are excited to take our concept out of the food court setting and into their neighborhoods. It will now be easier than ever to give guests the opportunity to enjoy the Sbarro pizza they know and love in the comfort of their own home.”
In addition to refreshed branding and the remodeling of many of its restaurants, a newly updated menu will center around the company’s specialty. “It’s not simply a new dining experience, but an entirely new look, feel and culture,” said Anne Pritz, CMO of Sbarro.
Or, as the Wall Street Journal writes, Sbarro is trying to go beyond the mall.
Sbarro is emerging from its second bankruptcy and hoping the rebranding and standalone units will reduce its reliance on mall traffic. The goal is to return the 59-year-old brand to its roots as a maker of New York-style pizza, said Karam told the news source, and position the QSR to compete with larger pizza chains such as Domino’s and Yum Brands Inc.’s Pizza Hut.
“The idea of offering a broad line of Italian foods held in steamed tables became dated,” Karam told the news source. “The essence of this brand is pizza. It’s what consumers buy from Sbarro and how they view Sbarro.”
Karam added that there’s still room for Sbarro to grow in food courts, but instead of them representing 90% of Sbarro’s sites, “I’d like them to represent less than half.”
The Journal writes that Sbarro’s shift also comes as major pizza delivery chains rely more on mobile- and web-ordering to compete within the market and gain customer loyalty. Also, Sbarro will compete with new—and fast-growing— entries to the fast-casual pizza business such as Mod Pizza LLC, Pieology Pizzeria and PizzaRev. Sbarro is already in that space with a separate concept, Pizza Cucinova, which has three locations in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Karam added that Sbarro’s online and mobile ordering capabilities won’t be as advanced as Domino’s to start, but he believes Sbarro’s name recognition and focus on high-quality ingredients will be the differentiator. “I’m quite optimistic about our prospects,” he told the Journal. “But time will tell.”