Simple Simon's Pizza vs Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Simple Simon's Pizza vs Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Simple Simon's Pizza Franchise
Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise
Investment $89,500 - $593,500$295,000 - $750,000
Franchise Fee $15,000$49,500
Royalty Fee 3%7%
Advertising Fee 1%2%
Year Founded 19821992
Year Franchised 19861998
Term Of Agreement -10 years+5
Term Of Agreement -10 years+5
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
Simple Simon's Pizza Franchise
Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise
Experience

*Ability to manage and motivate people. Food service experience is helpful, but not required. *Ability to locate and acquire rights to sites that meet the Company�s criteria. *Ability to properly finance and capitalize the investment. *Commitment to market the product in order to maximize sales and profits.

No Restaurant experience necessary but helpful Minimum financials are $175K to $400K in investment capital and a $600K to $1.0MM net worth

Financing Options

 
Simple Simon's Pizza Franchise
Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees No/Yes-/Yes
Start-up Costs No/Yes-/Yes
Equipment Yes/Yes-/Yes
Inventory No/Yes-/Yes
Receivables No/Yes-/-
Payroll No/Yes-/Yes

Training & Support

 
Simple Simon's Pizza Franchise
Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise
Training -8 Week GM & Key Supervisor Training and Certification
Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives-
Marketing Ad slicks, National media-
Operations -On site pre and post opening training and operational support with quarterly QA Visits.

Expansion Plans

 
Simple Simon's Pizza Franchise
Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Franchise
US Expansion Yes-
Canada Expansion No-
International Expansion No-

Company Overviews

About Simple Simon's Pizza

Simple Simon's Pizza was founded in 1982 based on a simple philosophy to serve the best quality pizza, calizone, and sandwiches at the most affordable price in a family atmosphere that people can enjoy. Today, Simple Simon's Pizza has approximately 220 locations across Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, and Georgia in metropolitan and small town communities. The pizza industry has grown to an impressive 25 billion dollar a year industry. The pizza, industry is growing internationally as well. New unit development, operations management, and continuing support are just some of the reasons why Simple Simon's Pizza is one of the best kept secrets in the food industry. Now that the secret has been exposed, we await your entrepreneurial skills to operate a Simple Simon's Pizza

About Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen

Using the family recipe for hand-tossed dough, the sauce made from fresh-crushed California tomatoes, and imported Italian cheese blends, Anthony became the sole owner and chef of his first restaurant Russo’s Pizza in the early 80’s. "It was 800 square feet. I had a pizza oven, a dough mixer and two tables. That's it. I could only sit eight people.” A few years later, he created Anthony’s Pizzeria, located in Clear Lake, Texas, and soon moved to Houston.

For almost a decade, Anthony refined his menu using classic Italian family recipes and zeroed in on the perfect New York-style pizza. In 1992, Russo’s New York Pizzeria opened in downtown Houston, Texas and proved to be a success.

 
Russo's Restaurants is a national and international franchisor of the fast casual and casual dining brands Russo's New York Pizzeria and Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen. Based in Houston, Russo's Restaurants are composed of a mix of corporate and franchised locations across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii. Russo's has entered international markets as well, with locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. There are an additional 20-plus units in development both in the United States and internationally. Chef Anthony Russo has created his concepts from years of applying his unique, family recipes featuring New York-style pizza along with a broad variety of handcrafted pasta creations, calzones, salads, sandwiches, soups and desserts, reflecting his commitment to his New York roots where food and family come first.