- 2 February, 2002 -

Boasting 80-plus years of experience between them, three seasoned industry veterans are launching an ambitious plan that will place up to 100 CiCi's Pizzas restaurants in the state of Colorado over the next 10 years. Pizza PALS founders Allan Huston, Pat Williamson and Larry Zwain will build on CiCi's Pizza's proven recipe for success. Drawing on their collective wisdom garnered from successful decades in corporate trenches, they plan to infuse each of their CiCi's restaurants with their company's watchwords of passion, attitude, leadership and success, or PALS. Mr Huston, former President and CEO of Pizza Hut, Mr Williamson, former Pizza Hut COO and Mr Zwain, former President and CEO of Boston Market bring some of the industry's most powerful resumes to their new venture. "We are very excited about this opportunity because CiCi's has one of the premier concepts that is relatively unknown," said Allan Huston, co-chairman of the board of Pizza PALS. "This concept has tremendous growth potential. Founder Joe Croce has really done a tremendous job of bringing this concept along and nurturing it and his enthusiasm is infectious." Huston enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks at PepsiCo. The dynamic executive had reached the pinnacle of his career with PepsiCo as president and CEO of Pizza Hut. By 1996, he led the worldwide operation that included 12,000 sites in 90 countries and revenues exceeding $7.5 billion. Five years ago he left PepsiCo to strike out on his own. He and Williamson, a longtime associate and former Pizza Hut Chief Operating Officer, together acquired a 28-restaurant franchise of Applebees in South Carolina, quickly expanding it to 30. Within a few years, they were ready for the next step and began evaluating different businesses. When Williamson read in the Dallas Morning News about CiCi's success and planned changes, they found their answer. After looking at more than 20 concepts in their quest, CiCi's instantly rocketed to the top of their list. "There were three things that got us excited about CiCi's: we absolutely loved the concept, the economics of it was the best we had ever seen and the people were great," said Williamson, co-chairman of Pizza PALS. "Our desire is to be associated with the best, not necessarily the biggest, and we're confident that we've hit the bulls eye with CiCi's Pizza." Many agree with Mr Williamson's assessment of CiCi's like the national restaurant industry magazine has just named the growing pizza buffet company as it's "Highest Rated Pizza Chain" for the second year in a row. Huston and Williamson soon opened negotiations with the chain. Fortuitously, CiCi's Pizza had shifted direction in the past year toward large, multi-store developments, mirroring the interests of the Pizza PALS' founders. From the get-go, it was a match made in Heaven. "We all had a mutual interest," Huston said. "Clearly we had experience in pizza and the foodservice industry and the capital. There was great chemistry with CiCi's and their strategy. It is a fortunate situation where our interests were aligned." CiCi's Pizza laid the groundwork for such a high-powered teaming with their 2000 strategic plan, which identified three paths for continuing growth: redesigning and revamping stores, upgrading product offerings and ingredients and forging multi-unit development partnerships. "We repositioned our brand for the next ten years growth," said Joe Croce, founder and CEO of CiCi's Pizza, based in the Dallas area. With steps one and two out of the way, they were ripe for tackling number three when Huston and Williamson called. "While we love the franchisees who have driven our growth, we decided in our strategic planning in 2000 to actively solicit multi-unit developers," said Croce. "We realized that the next growth stage for CiCi's required industry vets who bring strong experience and financials to the picture." "Allan, Pat and Larry are our dream team for this! It is very flattering that people of their high caliber are on our team." Pizza PALS plans to open its first CiCi's Pizza by late summer, starting in their headquarters city of Denver. A second store this year will allow them to perfect their formula and pave the way for exponential growth over the next decade. Starting in 2003, all bets are off for the Pizza PALS founders, who have two specific goals: they want to be the best operators in the CiCi's system, which they realize is a tall order, while generating revenues they conservatively estimate at $120-150 million from their 100 restaurants. To ensure success, each founding partner of Pizza PALS will focus on his area of expertise, reflecting his business interest and flair. Huston is charged with finances, Williamson will focus on human resources while Zwain, as President, will take care of day-to-day operations. All realize that launching such a large venture from the ground up is a clear challenge. Zwain, previously president and CEO of Boston Chicken, Inc., and with more than three decades of foodservice and restaurant experience, does not plan to change the highly motivated and successful CiCi's Pizza culture. He deems it crucial to find the best and brightest to run and work in their restaurants, giving them a chance to grow along with the venture. "Success in this business will always be driven by a very clear store-level focus on operations," said Croce. "It is this ‘inside the four walls' mentality that has fueled CiCi's success to date. "This is a people business and if you make the customer feel special every day, everywhere, then you'll do great," said Zwain, the president and CEO of Pizza PALS who worked with Huston and Williamson at PepsiCo for 12 years. "I think it is important that any business small or large really view themselves as unfinished progress, you've got to set your standards constantly and consistently higher, for both the customer and your people."

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