SHELBY
TOWNSHIP -- The truck rolls up and out come the roll-ups.
"We page everyone to let them know they’re here, and they’re
running out the door," said Helga Roels, office manager at
RE/MAX Metropolitan in Utica. It’s pita Tuesday at the
real estate office and many of the 75 employees, and others
in the building, are taking advantage of a visit by the Pita
Wagon. For the next 10 to 15 minutes, workers will
select from a lineup of sandwiches, soups, snacks and
beverages provided by the local Mr. Pita restaurant.
"The hot stuff is always nice and hot," said Roels, who said
she is hooked on the Greek pizza from the truck.
"They
are always prompt, and everything is very good." For the
past year, select Mr. Pita locations have been selling their
wares to Metro Detroit offices, businesses and factories
from the Pita Wagon, a $45,000 vehicle that makes
prearranged stops on a weekly basis. Right now, franchisees
operate six of the wagons, and Mr. Pita President Frank
Lombardo would like to see every franchise in the chain
using one of the vehicles. "One of the nice things about
this is no other restaurant chain has gone out and brought
their products to the consumers," said Lombardo, who founded
the company in 1993 and has seen it grow to 38 locations.
"The idea is to go once a week so companies can have ‘pita
day.’ " Franchises with the wagons have seen a 25 percent
increase in sales, Lombardo said.
"I like the idea," said Gregg Thomas of CFO Partners Inc, a
Rochester Hills financial consulting firm for multiunit
restaurant groups. "I think it’s a great way to extend the
brand to people who may not normally visit a Mr. Pita."
However, Thomas expects few other chains to follow Mr.
Pita’s lead and create a fleet of catering trucks. "It’s not
part of their normal operating procedure," he said. "It’s a
pretty dramatic change in doing business -- asking your
manager to run the restaurant and a catering truck." Along
with the Pita Wagon, Mr. Pita has updated its menu to add
hot sandwiches, and french fries made in oil without trans
fats.
All the changes are designed to keep up with the sandwich
segment of the restaurant industry, where annual sales are
expected to increase 8 percent a year to reach $25.4 billion
in the United States by 2008, according to Technomic, a food
industry consulting firm in Chicago. Mr. Pita is looking to
expand outside the Detroit area by the end of the year.
Lombardo said he’s talking to people in Tennessee and is
considering Ohio and Illinois for future franchises.
