INDIANAPOLIS, IN / ACCESSWIRE / November 29, 2017 / Noble Roman's, Inc. (OTCQB: NROM) announced today that it has hired Michael Lingor as Vice President of Development to work exclusively on franchise sales for its new-generation, stand-alone pizzerias known as Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub (CPP). Mr. Lingor has been in franchise development in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years, including many senior level franchise sales and development positions with fast-growing restaurant concepts.
Mr. Langor started his restaurant industry career as a single-unit franchisee of Quiznos, growing the business into seven successful locations before selling them to Quiznos Master, LLC. After selling his units, Mr. Langor joined Quiznos corporate office as Senior Regional Director, where he led franchise support operations, franchise sales and real estate procurement.
After Quizinos, Mr. Lingor, joined Earl of Sandwich/Planet Hollywood Int'l in Orlando, Florida in 2005 as Senior Vice President of Development and Construction. There he managed all development functions for the emerging fast-casual sandwich concept. After Earl of Sandwich, Mr. Lingor joined Tavistock Restaurants, parent company of Freebird's, Napa Grille, California Cafe', Abe & Louie's, Atlantic Fish and Timpano Chop. At Freebird's, a fast-casual sandwich concept, he served first as Vice President of Operations but was quickly promoted to Senior Vice President of Development and Franchising in early 2010. In that position, he managed the growth of that fast-casual concept from 17 restaurants in the beginning of 2010 to over 100 restaurants by the end of 2014. After Freebird's, Mr. Lingor joined Taco Bueno Restaurants, LLP in Dallas, Texas as Vice President of Development and Franchising where he managed all development functions for the 185-unit restaurant chain. After Taco Buneo, Mr. Lingor was a restaurant development consultant for Real Mex Restaurants of Los Angles, California for their initiatives with El Torito, El Torito Grill, Chevv's Fresh Mex, Siniqual, Acapulco Restaurant and Las Brisas.
Mr. Lingor has been very impressed with the CPP concept, and is looking forward to accelerating franchise unit development growth through his industry contacts and efforts. He will focus his franchising sales on multi-unit franchisees who have experience in operating multi-unit franchised operations and who have both the operational and financial capabilities to expand the CPP concept in their markets.
As previously announced the second CPP unit opened November 17, 2017 and significantly exceeded its opening 7-day net sales target, matching the results from the first unit which opened earlier this year. The first seven-day net sales volume came in at $38,601, actually exceeding the results of the first unit which had opening week sales netting $38,283. "Obviously we are in the honeymoon phase of our opening cycle. Nonetheless, the initial results have far exceeded our expectations," remarked Scott Mobley, President & Chief Executive Officer of Noble Roman's. Commenting further, Mr. Mobley went on to say, "Our customer feedback on the new unit has been excellent. The Whitestown, Indiana community, where our newest CPP is located, has been extremely gracious and receptive, and we greatly appreciate their support. The area is booming, with significant new housing, retail and commercial development currently under construction. We believe that after the honeymoon period of the grand opening, sales will start to build significantly over time. Unlike a typical unit which might settle into a predictable run-rate following an opening, we hope to see this one grow significantly as the community continues to develop." Mobley added that the company does not normally discuss individual sales volumes during the first year of a new unit's operation due to the natural swings in the data caused by the grand opening grace period, but determined that it was important to provide some guidance on how the company's second CPP unit opened relative to the first.
The first CPP opened on January 31, 2017 in Westfield, Indiana in the Monon Marketplace on Main Street/Highway 32 across from Grand Park. The third company-owned and operated CPP is on schedule to open before February 2018 with the fourth opening in early spring. A franchise CPP location is now under construction in Evansville, Indiana, and the company expects to ramp up its efforts to further franchise the concept with the hiring of a new Vice President of Development to focus solely on those efforts.
The CPP concept has a hint of nostalgia with a modern flair and substantial new innovations. The CPP harkens back to the company's early history when it was known simply as "Pizza Pub." Like then, for fast and efficient service that is easy to staff and manage, ordering takes place at the counter and food runners deliver orders to the dining room for dine-in guests. The CPP features many exciting enhancements over the current competitive landscape, particularly when compared to the fast-casual segment from which it differs greatly. As the name implies, the restaurant features two styles of hand-crafted, made-from-scratch pizzas in personal, medium and large sizes with a selection of over 40 different toppings, cheeses and sauces from which to choose. The pizza offerings feature Noble Roman's traditional hand-crafted thinner crust as well as its signature deep-dish Sicilian crust. Beer and wine are also featured, with 16 different beers on tap including both national and local craft selections.
Additional enhancements include a glass enclosed "Dough Room" where Noble Roman's Dough Masters hand make all pizza and breadstick dough from scratch in customer view. Also in the dining room is a "Dusting & Drizzle Station" where guests can customize their pizzas after they are baked with a variety of toppings and drizzles, such as rosemary infused olive oil, honey and Italian spices. Kids and adults alike enjoy Noble Roman's self-serve root beer tap, which is also part of a special menu for customers 12 and younger. Throughout the dining room and the bar area are thirteen large and giant screen TV monitors for sports and the nostalgic black & white shorts featured in Noble Roman's earlier days.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
For Media Information: Scott Mobley, President & CEO 317/634-3377
For Investor Relations: Paul Mobley, Executive Chairman 317/634-3377
The statements contained in this press release concerning the company's future revenues, profitability, financial resources, market demand and product development are forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to the company that are based on the beliefs of the management of the company, as well as assumptions and estimates made by and information currently available to the company's management. The company's actual results in the future may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in the company's operations and business environment, including but not limited to competitive factors and pricing pressures, non-renewal of franchise agreements, shifts in market demand, the reliability and continued performance of third party manufacturers and distributors, the success of new franchise programs, including the new Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub format, the company's ability to successfully operate an increased number of company-owned restaurants, general economic conditions, changes in purchases of or demand for the company's products, licenses or franchises, the success or failure of individual franchisees and licensees, changes in prices or supplies of food ingredients and labor, the ability to refinance its convertible debt into 2019 if any remains outstanding and dependence on continued involvement of current management. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or intended. The company undertakes no obligations to update the information in this press release for subsequent events.
SOURCE: Noble Roman's, Inc.
