Boston Pizza is a Canadian-based restaurant chain that goes by various names; Boston’s The Gourmet Pizza, Bo Pi or BP. It owns and grants franchises in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Founded in Edmonton, Alberta in 1964 by Gus Agioritis, Boston Pizza focuses on making pizza, pasta, and ribs. It is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, and for six years since its inception, it already has 17 locations in western Canada of which 15 were franchised.
An officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was one of the first franchisees, who in 1968 had noticed the growing popularity of Boston Pizza. After purchasing the rights to open his restaurant in British Columbia, he later partnered with his friend and acquired the company from Ron Coyle, who had bought it from Agioritis. They had 16 restaurants, 15 of which were independent and franchised.
They continued to grow and by 1995 their chain had expanded to 95 restaurants in Western Canada with more sports bars founded as an essential part of the business. Expansion continued with the first East Boston Pizza established in 1998. There are currently more than 325 Boston Pizza restaurants in Canada alone.
The American version of Boston Pizza is known as Boston’s and the first franchise was established in the US in 1998. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Boston’s Gourmet Pizza became a casual restaurant and sports bar in the US. Serving different varieties of pizza, pasta, sandwiches and other delicious foods. It offers a family dining atmosphere with the sports bar consisting of memorabilia from local teams. It is suitable for a family outing or for sports fans. To date, Boston’s has 54 units in the United States and 2 franchises in Mexico.
Boston Pizza received a major financial and commercial boost when it became the official pizza supplier for Expo 86 in Vancouver. This gave the company exposure that allowed it to open 17 more franchises in the next 2 years. It is ranked in the top 100 in the fastest growing franchises as well as the top global franchises in the United States.
Total revenues in 2007 were $ 755 million with a total investment of $ 1.7 million to 3.1 million. The franchise fee is $ 50,000 with a continuous royalty fee of 5%. To qualify as a franchise investor, you must have a net worth of $ 1.5 million and a cash liquidity requirement of $ 500,000 and general business experience. A franchised unit must be managed by at least 7 employees and an absentee owner of a franchise is prohibited.
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