Eagle Boys Pizza Spreads Wings For Larger Share of Oz Market

Eagle Boys Pizza has an ambitious long-term growth strategy to open another 200 stores in the next three years.

The pizza chain aims to take a greater slice of the Australian and overseas market.

Eagle Boys MD Todd Clayton said since the company’s buy-in earlier this year, his senior management team had been consolidating its direction and was now ready to move.

“We are aiming to operate a network of over 400 stores by 2010 and cement our position as a leader in the market,” he said. “It might sound ambitious but we have outlined yearly growth objectives and we plan on opening another 66 stores in the 2007/08 financial year alone - from drive-thrus to solution stores.

“We believe we can take the top spot in the pizza market and we have spent considerable time assessing the competition and adjusting our brand and products to reach that goal.”

Clayton said the company was currently finalising a new store model that would anchor the chain’s growth.

“Regional markets comprise a major share of our network and we are going to harness this further with a store model that can cater for smaller populations. We will also focus on providing the highest quality meal solutions in the industry,” he said.

Eagle Boys will be investing over $250,000 in new product development over the next 12 months.

“We know what we want to achieve and we have allocated the right resources to make it happen,” said Clayton.

“The pizza industry is one of the toughest to compete in and while our strategy is ambitious it is backed by solid research, strong management and a clear vision of where we want to position ourselves in the future.”

Eagle Boys recorded an increase of total network sales of 9.4% during the 2006/07 financial year compared to the previous year, and same sales store growth increased by 6.4%.

“In 2007-08, same store sales growth YTD is already tracking 11.7% ahead of last year, and total network sales have grown by 20.7%.

“Each year we experience strong growth and we are focusing on harnessing our talents and working to propel the company into new territory.

“We have introduced new permanent menu items such as pasta and we are currently trialling an online ordering facility which we hope to roll out nationally in February 2008.”

Clayton said the company was also looking abroad for further opportunities.

“We have been considering expansion overseas for many years and we will be investing in research to identify the best locations for our stores. However, our primary focus will be on developing and growing Australia first.”

Since the first Eagle Boys Pizza store opened in 1987 the company has grown to more than 200 stores and employs more than 4,000 people.

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