PITTSBURGH, Pa., Aug. 9, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Unique Pizza and Subs Corporation (Pink Sheets:UPZS) a Delaware Corporation, has completed two-week training programs with four franchisees, bringing all of them to the final stage of opening their initial Unique Pizza and Subs locations in four different U.S. markets. Grace Budzinski, Milwaukee, WI; Will Newell, Boston, MA; Steve Hamm, Norfolk, VA; and Mark Ellison, Austin, TX were trained on store operations, employee management, marketing, inventory control and preparation of Unique Pizza and Subs signature food items. In addition, they received orientation related to participation in a rapidly growing franchise, as well as all of the benefits of a nationwide Call Center, corporate branding, marketing support and buying power through Unique Pizza and Subs' supplier partners. Will Newell stated, "After spending two weeks of training with Unique, I am now able to fully understand and appreciate why Unique Pizza and Subs has the best quality of pizza and subs in the food industry. The superiority of the product is unsurpassed by any other pizza or subs franchise and their system to prepare the food is simple and consistent. I am now copiously prepared and extremely excited to open our first (Harvard, MA) of many locations by the end of August."
David Sherbondy, Vice President Commissary of Unique Pizza and Subs, stated, "This is the final phase in preparing our new franchisees to be successful within our system. After completing our mandatory two-week training session we feel extremely confident that they are all ready to open their first of many franchised locations. With the training complete we are now only weeks away from launching our nationwide expansion into four new major markets and this is another strong indication to our loyal shareholders how committed we are towards national expansion." Additional training will soon be underway for franchisees in Western Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and California.
Unique Pizza and Subs has done many things to position itself as the "fastest growing," publicly traded, pizza franchise in the U.S.: the ability to convert an existing pizza shop into a UPZS franchise in about one week; UPZS can open a franchise in any size market and is not limited to demographics or household incomes; a Customer Response Center which receives incoming orders for all of their nationwide stores( pizza call centers have an average order 'up-sell' of 15-20 percent ). This service is provided at no cost to the franchisee, saving them approximately 5% labor costs; a stock price that has continued to grow with UPZS's nationwide expansion; the superior product quality of a "mom and pop" pizza shop but with the consistency of a major franchise; a very Unique and expanded menu with a limited inventory, for optimal cash flow and freshness of product. Unique Pizza and Subs will have locations in nine U.S. states before the end of 2006; Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Unique Pizza and Subs is also in advanced negotiations for: Houston, Texas; Plymouth, Michigan; Ontario, California; Royal Oak, Michigan; San Diego, California; Sacramento, California; Charlotte, North Carolina and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; with the minimum commitment of five locations per territory. Unique Pizza and Subs is preparing to open (194 projected locations by the end 2007) franchises in Austin, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Northeastern North Carolina; Connecticut; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Virginia and several additional locations in Western Pennsylvania this summer.
About Unique Pizza and Subs Corporation, a Delaware Corporation
Since the beginning of its development stages back in 1991 Unique Pizza and Subs clearly has separated themselves from the other major pizza franchises. They needed to have more than just the best product in the industry; they needed a way to grow rapidly in any market. They noticed all the major pizza franchises were predominately located in only highly populated markets, leaving a tremendously large pizza eating population only serviced by independent pizza shops. Two of the main reasons the major pizza franchises do not locate in smaller markets is because of their inferior quality of their product compared to the local independents and their corporate ownership is not usually welcomed. To succeed in a smaller market, a pizza shop needs to have these key elements: a high quality and consistently made product (all of their recipes were designed to have the quality of a "mom and pop" pizza shop with the consistency of a major franchise), good, professional and friendly customer service (UPZS is the only publicly traded pizza franchise that will have all of its locations orders routed to their professionally staffed Customer Response Center), and an owner; that lives, works and pays taxes in that small market (all of the conversions of independent pizza shops into Unique Pizza and Subs will retain the same local ownership).
The Unique Pizza and Subs logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2466
This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions.