Word: schnatterer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...know you're a red-hot pepperoni when rivals attack you and employees tremble whenever you come around. A visit from John Schnatter, the perfectionist CEO of the fast-growing Papa John's International pizza chain, makes "the hair stand up on the back of your neck," says Tracy Friedlein, who manages a company-owned pizzeria in Louisville, Ky. "You run to do everything to prove yourself." But Pizza Hut chief Mike Rawlings, who has brought a federal lawsuit charging that Papa John's "better ingredients, better pizza" campaign is false and misleading, sees Schnatter in a harsher light. "They...
...only one of the four largest pizza chains whose slice of the pie has grown at double-digit rates over the past five years. Profits? Papa John's earnings jumped 45% last year and are on track for at least a 30% increase in 1998, even as Schnatter opens units at the furious pace of a store a day. "Papa John's has been an incredible success story," says Mitchell Speiser, who watches the restaurant industry for Lehman Brothers. "They have done a great job of emerging out of nowhere...
...Schnatter, 36, who gets visibly excited when talking about the sugar-acid ratio in his pizza, which gives Papa John's pies a distinctively sweet flavor, puts simplicity above all else. Pizza Hut offers more variety; Domino's stresses fast delivery; and Little Caesars sells the least expensive pies. Papa John's has no seating, offers just two types of pizza--no salads, sandwiches or buffalo wings--and remakes any pies that rate less than an 8 on the company's 10-point scale. If the cheese shows a single air bubble or the crust is not golden brown...
...year. Yet Papa John's customers keep coming back for more. So far this year, Papa John's sales in stores open more than a year--a crucial test of health in the business--have grown a strong 9.2%, one of the best showings in the restaurant industry. Now Schnatter has his sights on loftier goals. "The stage is set for us to become the No. 1 pizza brand in the world," he told throngs of enthusiastic Papa John's managers in Dallas and Denver two weeks...
...that sounds like overreaching, for Schnatter it's nothing new. As a 5-ft. 6-in. high school shortstop in Jeffersonville, Ind., Schnatter vowed to become the best player at his position in the history of his school. Rising at 5 a.m. to lift weights and work out with the swim team, he set a record for fewest errors that stands today. (He brings a similar ardor to his current golf game, meticulously studying videotapes of his swing.) At the same time, Schnatter baked pizza at Rocky's Sub Pub, a neighborhood hangout, where he learned to make fresh dough...