Leading Pizza Chain Debuts Express Locations This Fall with More to Come in 2025
DETROIT, Oct. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Little Caesars, the third largest pizza chain in the world, announced today it is expanding its footprint with non-traditional restaurants, signing new license agreements to debut Little Caesars express locations across college campuses. Targeting a younger crowd that craves affordable and delicious meals while juggling a busy schedule, Little Caesars is opening this fall at Eastern Michigan University and at Washington State University in 2025, with additional restaurants in the pipeline for 2025.
“With convenience, value and quality at the forefront of everything Little Caesars does, the brand is a great fit for college campuses. We’re excited to kick off the school year with these new opportunities to deliver to students and faculty the food and dining experience that meets their individual needs and preferences,” said Bryan Ketelhut, National Director of Non-Traditional and Development Services at Little Caesars. “By expanding our brand’s presence across non-traditional venues, we’re also giving franchisees the opportunity to diversify their business portfolios, staying competitive in each of their respective markets and keeping Little Caesars top-of-mind with consumers in their communities.”
Overseeing the operations of Little Caesars at Eastern Michigan University’s Crossroads Marketplace is Sheena and Lenny Plocharczyk. Having worked with Little Caesars franchise services department for many years, the husband-and-wife team understand how to run a successful franchise and drive sales.
“Given our experience working at the corporate level and recognizing there is strong demand for iconic brands like Little Caesars to be accessible across college campuses, we knew this was a great investment opportunity for us to jump on board with,” said Sheena Plocharczyk. “The transition to becoming franchisees has been smooth and the support we have received from the team has helped set us up for success on campus. As an alumna of Eastern Michigan University, I am really excited about this new business endeavor.”
Little Caesars has also partnered with Washington State University’s Dining Services to open a location in the Compton Union Building (CUB) food court. “We are very excited to bring a nationally recognized pizza brand to the food court and believe it will be very popular with our students,” said Karee Shaw, director of the CUB. “It will complement the other concepts we have in the food court and offer variety to the campus community.”
To become more accessible to guests, Little Caesars is focused on expanding its non-traditional locations in 2024 and beyond. The leading pizza chain is committed to bringing Little Caesars to consumers across a variety of settings, including university towns and college campuses, casinos, amusement parks, stadiums, hospitals, zoos and airports. With Little Caesars infamous grab-and-go menu items, including Crazy Puffs® and HOT-N-READY® pizza, the brand is equipped to provide the types of food products travelers, students and fans are craving at these high foot traffic hubs.
For more information, interested candidates can visit franchise.littlecaesars.com.
About Little Caesars®
Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Little Caesars was founded by Mike and Marian Ilitch in 1959 as a single, family-owned restaurant. Today, it is the third-largest pizza chain in the world, with restaurants in each of the 50 U.S. states and 28 countries and territories.
Known for its HOT-N-READY® pizza and famed Crazy Bread®, Little Caesars uses quality ingredients, like fresh, never frozen, mozzarella and Muenster cheese and sauce made from fresh-packed, vine-ripened California crushed tomatoes. The brand is known for innovation and is home of the exclusive Pizza Portal® pickup, a heated, self-service mobile order pickup station. Little Caesars is also the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League.
An exceptionally high-growth company with over 60 years of experience in the $145 billion worldwide pizza industry, Little Caesars is continually looking for franchisee candidates to join the team in markets around the world. In addition to providing the opportunity for entrepreneurial independence in a franchise system, Little Caesars offers strong brand awareness with one of the most recognized and appealing characters in the country, Little Caesar. Little Caesars is proud to be part of the Ilitch Companies family of businesses.
