4,000 free pizzas, John Schnatter appearances throughout New York
City among several events marking milestone
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) and Founder, Chairman and
CEO John Schnatter will mark the opening of the pizza company's 4,000th
store worldwide Friday by giving away 4,000 pizzas at various locations
in New York City, and a celebration at the store itself in nearby New
Hyde Park, N.Y.
The free pizzas will be distributed in the form of a one-time unique
code that can be used to redeem a large one-topping pizza at www.papajohns.com
through Sept. 23, accompanied by a custom-made commemorative Rawlings
baseball. Schnatter, who founded Papa John's 28 years ago, will be seen
throughout the New York City area, giving away the baseballs and codes,
and he will cap the celebration with a special on-field appearance at
the New York Yankees' game on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
"Opening the 4,000th Papa John's restaurant worldwide is a
huge milestone for the brand. It's been a long road from the broom
closet in my Dad's tavern where we first started making pizzas to Store
4,000, so it's appropriate that the celebration is anchored in one of
the biggest cities in the world, and the restaurant itself is nearby,"
Schnatter said.
Schnatter will be joined at the mid-day event at the New Hyde Park
restaurant, 909 Hillside Ave., in the North Shore Commons, New Hyde
Park, NY, by customers and members of the company's leadership team,
franchisees, and community leaders.
Schnatter's New York appearances follow recent visits he made to Papa
John's restaurants and operations in the Middle East, Russia and Latin
America where he met with Papa John's franchisees and customers, as well
as local business leaders and dignitaries.
The company, which has locations in 32 countries on five continents,
recently unveiled its 2013 franchise development incentive program,
which, effective immediately, includes zero franchise fee, 0% royalty
for 18 months, and $50,000 in restaurant equipment for new restaurants
opened through 2013. Papa John's growth, despite ongoing economic
pressures and uncertainty, is a result of its never-ending commitment to
quality, Schnatter said.
"Customers and prospective franchisees continue to put a premium on
quality, and that's where Papa John's wins, both in our products and how
we operate our business," Schnatter said.
Baseball is not the only sport that the brand is using to connect with
customers via free pizza. Last week, Papa John's, the Official Pizza
Sponsor of the NFL, kicked off the 2012 NFL regular season where it left
off at Super Bowl XLVI: by offering all of America the chance to win a
free large one-topping pizza. Current and new members of Papa Rewards,
the company's online customer loyalty program, have the chance to be
randomly selected to receive one of 2 million free large one-topping
pizzas to be awarded throughout the regular season — 120,000 each week.
Consumers can enroll in Papa Rewards at www.papajohns.com.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc.
(NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third largest pizza company. For 11 of the
past 13 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer
satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer
Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's also earned the 2012 Harris Poll
EquiTrend® Pizza Brand of the Year. Papa John's is the Official Pizza
Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl XLVII. For more
information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa
John's at www.papajohns.com.
Papa John's International, Inc.
Tish Muldoon, 502-261-4987
Sr.
Director, Corporate Communications
Tish_Muldoon@papajohns.com
Source: Papa John's International, Inc.
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