In last month’s Restaurant + Foodservice Exclusive, we looked at the five largest Burger King franchisees in the US using data pulled from the Top 20 Restaurant Franchises (RF20) database. The RF20 is our latest product at Chain Store Guide, providing clients with datasets that link restaurant franchisees of the top 20 chains to the exact locations of their restaurants (street level, physical addresses) to an extent unmatched in the industry.

This month, we look at the two largest US pizza chains, Domino’s and Pizza Hut. We dig a little deeper into the RF20 and take a look at their franchise-ownership structure in a typical Midwestern market – Indianapolis, IN (more specifically, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Statistical Area).

(a) Geocoding and addresses for locations included within RF20.
(b) RF20 includes owner’s name and complete contact information. Additional personnel listings available within Chain Store Guide’s Chain Restaurant Operators Database.

Domino’s

Domino’s Indianapolis market is the sole domain of Domino’s largest franchisee, the Mueller family’s RPM Pizza Inc., as the result of RPM’s 2015 acquisition of 45 Indiana Domino’s stores. In addition to Indiana, RPM Pizza’s territories cover Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Pizza Hut

Ownership of greater Indianapolis Pizza Hut stores is slightly more diverse.  Indianapolis-based La Raza Pizza (with additional territories in Texas and New Mexico) controls the bulk of the business, but the 49-unit Pizza Hut of Fort Wayne owns a handful of locations, Indiana/Ohio franchisee Buckeye Valley Pizza Hut has 3 locations north of city of Indianapolis (in Anderson and Alexandria, IN) and Peterson Holdings owns the Martinsville Pizza Hut located in the southern part of the Indianapolis MSA, near its 3 Bloomington, IN stores.

The ownership breakdown in Indianapolis (a dominant franchisee with additional, smaller ownership groups) is common in midsized metro areas among chains with a long history of operations. Though younger, smaller growth chains like Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mikes, and Firehouse Subs often feature a greater number of owners with smaller unit counts in these markets. Firehouse Subs, for example, has 8 Indianapolis-area franchisees that own 11 total locations.

We believe that the RF20 can provide real value for restaurant-industry suppliers and service providers. It allows users to untangle the franchisee web for the Top 20 restaurant chains, identifying who owns an individual restaurant or controls a given market throughout the US.

We’d like to hear about how you’d use such a product – features you’re looking for or restaurant chains you’re interested in accessing. Drop us a line or give us a call.