Blondo Business Park - New Godfathers Pizza Headquarters

[Raraavis]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet.

There is a new Business Park under-construction between 108th and 112th and Blondo. There is an entrance to the Business Park on 108th between Maple and Blondo and another entrance on Blondo about 112th street. There is one 3 or 4 story Building under construction currently. There is also a sign near the 108th street entrance about the new Godfathers Pizza headquarters that will be built on that spot.

[w8ing]

I bet the people who owned the farm that used to be there got a mint when they sold.

[MTO]

I thought God Fathers was HQed here but I never knew for sure.

[Brad]

9-14-2006

[BRoss]

Those last two pictures look really familar . We moved into the new building about a month ago and things are finally starting to get back to normal. It is a really nice building. The R&D dept used to be in the back of one of the stores, but now they have a really nice and big kitchen in with the rest of corporate. All the doors are keycard access and all the lights are motion sensored. One problem is that our IT dept went from an entire section in our old building to just a cubicle. After we threw out A LOT of old stuff, we managed to get it to work out. One funny thing is that there is a store right across the street of the new building, but it's a franchisee store-not corporate. It's nice because it is still right off of 680, just one more exit north now.

[Brad]

 .....One funny thing is that there is a store right across the street of the new building, but it's a franchisee store-not corporate......

So whats the scoop on Godfathers, I have heard stories but don't know the facts.  It was started here in Omaha? by Willie Theason?  Its nation wide?

[Uffda]

Godfather's Pizza has been serving up hot, fresh pizza since 1973.  What began as a single restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska 30 years ago has grown to a chain that can be found serving great food in over 40 states.

http://www.godfathers.com/Company_Profile/[/quote]

[BRoss]

Godfather's was started in Omaha in 1973 by William Theason. He sold it to Phillsbury in the mid 1980s. In the beginning of the 1990s, Herman Cain, who had turned around the fortunes of Phillsbury's struggling Burger King chain of restaurants, lead a group to buy the brand from Phillsbury. In 2002 Cain stepped down as president and CEO and is now ran by Ron Gartlan, who is now the president and CEO. The corporate office was located off of 90th and Dodge on the third floor of the Financial Plaza building before we just recently moved to the new building off of 108th and Maple, where we are the lone tenants unlike before. Now there's a sign out front of the building the says "Godfather's National Headquarters"

[Coyote]

Godfather's Opens New National HQ

Godfather's Pizza, a pizza franchise serving the convenience store industry, has unveiled a new national headquarters campus here, featuring a state-of-the-art "virtual c-store" in its research and development (R&D) facility.

The 24,000-square-foot complex incorporates offices for the company's corporate employees, a Godfather's Pizza's test kitchen, training facilities, a sensory room and a production studio for photographing products and shooting TV commercials. But the centerpiece of the new facility, according to Godfather's Pizza's CEO Ron Gartlan, is the "virtual c-store," which allows the R&D and training staff to test recipes and preparation techniques in space designed to simulate convenience store conditions. "We recreated a c-store setting in our new R&D facility to help us design products and procedures that will succeed in the challenging conditions unique to convenience stores, truck plazas and airport foodservice settings," Gartlan said. "We believe this is a unique facility in the pizza business."

Godfather's Pizza c-store outlets have been designed to be flexible and to operate out of as little as 200 square feet, said Bill Methven, senior vice president and manager of nontraditional franchise sales. "With our new 'virtual c-store,' we can be sure our c-store franchisees provide their customers with the unique taste and quality Godfather's Pizza is known for, even in the smallest, most difficult layouts, and with procedures that are simple enough for hourly staff to execute consistently." Godfather's Pizza c-store franchisees, who toured the new R&D facility for the first time at a VIP reception in Omaha, appeared to like what they see. "Godfather's Pizza has become the fastest-growing and highest-gross margin brand in our portfolio of foodservice concepts," said Steve Oliver, director of food services for Amerada Hess Corp., which operates 600 c-store outlets throughout the East Coast. "We congratulate Godfather's Pizza on their new R&D facility and the commitment they've made to the success of their c-store franchisees."

Mike Herman, director of convenience store operations and travel stores for Love's Travel Shops and Country Stores Inc., echoed this reaction. "Godfather's Pizza's new R&D facility, and their focus on the needs of c-store and truck plaza operators, shows why they have been such a hit at Love's," Herman said. "Our locations, on average, hit 70-percent gross profit margins, and we have seen little, if any, cannibalization with our other branded QSR offerings -- which is the mark of a strong foodservice brand."  Godfather's Pizza said its new headquarters -- designed with room for 20 percent growth -- positions the 33-year-old company for continued success in the c-store industry, as well as other nontraditional operations, such as schools and airports.

Keeping their finger on the pulse of consumer preference was another objective of Godfather's Pizza's new facility. The new sensory rooms allow the company to test new products and preparations with consumers. Taste-test subjects arrive through a separate entrance and are served through sliding panels without seeing how the product is prepared, to prevent an influence on their reactions. "One of the things we value is feedback from customers, and this is just one method for getting it," Gartlan said. "Such research has kept Godfather's Pizza in touch with changing consumer tastes. Young consumers, for example, prefer their sauce to be spicier or have more bite, and aren't afraid to try new combinations of ingredients."

Today, Godfather's Pizza has 137 franchisees, which operate approximately 600 franchise locations across the country, ranging from traditional pizza restaurants to non-traditional locations in c-stores, airports, truck plazas and schools. Approximately half of all Godfather's Pizza's restaurants are located in these nontraditional locations.

[iamjacobm]

[Brad]

Wow, its been so long since I worked on the Lindsay building, I forgot it had a "Twin" on the same lot.