Financing

How Cici's Pizza is becoming more like Chuck E. Cheese

A Deeper Dive: Jeff Hetsel, president and COO of the pizza buffet chain, joins the podcast to talk about the brand’s focus on games and what that does to its business.

This episode of A Deeper Dive is brought to you by Zero Hour Health.

zero hour health

How is Cici’s becoming more like Chuck E. Cheese?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Jeff Hetsel, the president and COO of Cici’s Pizza.

Hetsel discusses the chain’s rapid shift into something of an eatertainment concept. Many of the brand’s locations have been adding larger and larger game rooms, complete with tickets and prizes, much like the aforementioned classic pizza-and-games concept.

We talk about what games is doing for its business and why franchisees are the ones who led the charge.

We also talk about a variety of other topics, including the labor situation in the restaurant industry and what Cici’s and its operators are doing about it. We also talk about the brand’s new loyalty program.

You can also find out what the most expensive pizza to make is—it’s not what you think.

It’s a fascinating discussion of pizza so please check it out.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Leadership

Meet the restaurant fixer who now owns Etta

Tech entrepreneur Johann Moonesinghe suddenly finds himself leading a growing group of restaurants. His secret? He doesn't expect to make a profit.

Financing

Looking for the next Chipotle? These 3 chains are already there

The Bottom Line: Wingstop, Raising Cane’s and Jersey Mike’s have broken free from the pack of well-established growth chains. Here’s why this trio stands out.

Financing

For Starbucks, 2 years of change hasn't yielded promised results

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop giant’s sales struggles worsened earlier this year, despite a flurry of efforts to improve operations and employee satisfaction.

Trending

More from our partners