-KH News Desk (cbedit@imaws.org)
With the inauguration of its two newest restaurants in the Philippines and Missouri on Dec. 22, Sbarro will have opened more than 100 new stores in 2022, which is a record for the company’s 65-year history. Sbarro also opened its 200th domestic franchise restaurant, its 300th international franchise restaurant, and its 500th franchise site this year in addition to the opening of the 100 new restaurants. Additionally, it launched its Original XL New York Pizza in Poland, Georgia, and Northern Macedonia, three new nations.
“I am so grateful for the faith and trust of our franchisees and our corporate and field teams that have made these milestones possible,” said David Karam, Sbarro CEO. “With our focus on the Impulse Pizza segment, we’ve been able to feature our Pizza by the Slice and Strombolis to drive customer loyalty. By honing in on our key points of differentiation, it’s opened the doors to numerous new venues for growth including military bases, theme parks, c-stores, train stations and travel centers. I’m especially proud that our openings have been so balanced worldwide with half coming in the U.S. and half in the now more than 25 countries we operate in.”
With the number of Sbarro restaurants in the system approaching 700, Sbarro is excited not just in the growth this year, but it anticipates the number of openings to increase in future years. “This is just the beginning for this great brand,” said Karam. “We have an incredibly strong development pipeline and we’re as excited as ever for our future.”
The doors to the Italian delicatessen owned by Carmela “Mama” Sbarro and her family in Brooklyn, New York, were first opened in 1956. Their New York-style pizza slices were so well-liked that they quickly built a second, pizza-only store at the King’s Plaza Mall in New York. Sbarro is currently a world leader in the field of impulse pizza more than 65 years later. In several locations, Sbarro serves XL Original New York pizza. Stores like malls, casinos, airports, universities, convenience stores, and travel plazas all sell the company’s New York pizzas, strombolis, and other food items.