PizzaVito to Open Ten Atlanta Locations

Feb. 18, 2009 - PRLog -- Contact: Mitch Leff, (404) 861-4769, mitch@leffassociates.com

PIZZAVITO TO OPEN 10 ATLANTA LOCATIONS

ATLANTA – Feb. 18, 2009 – PizzaVito, based in Gainesville, FL, will open ten locations in 2009 throughout metro-Atlanta area.  Specific locations are yet to be announced.  PizzaVito opened the doors to its first location on January 28, 2009 in Gainesville, Florida and has franchise development deals signed to begin expanding immediately.  

The most recent franchise development agreements include a 25-store deal, with the option for 15 more, to open throughout Florida and a five-store deal to also open in various locations throughout Florida.  The projected build-out for the first location of the five-store deal is scheduled for this month.

“Pizza has been a family business for us for nearly half a century,” said Joe DiBartolo, CEO and Founder of PizzaVito™.  “From Italy to New York to the South, we pride ourselves in making real New York style pizza.  The opening of our first PizzaVito™ franchise store marks a milestone in the family business and we are excited to be able to continue offering customers the unique pizza taste of the Big Apple.”

PizzaVito™ is a restaurant franchise concept that specializes in real New York pizza.  For more than forty years Vito DiBartolo, namesake and co-founder of PizzaVito™, has been opening pizzerias and making the neighborhood’s favorite pizza.  >From his first pizzeria in Queens in 1966 to his wildly successful pizzerias all over New York and throughout the South, people love his authentic pizza everywhere he goes.  

Vito attributes his pizza’s authenticity to the freshest ingredients and over 40-year old family dough and sauce recipes.  PizzaVito™ uses 100% whole milk mozzarella and the dough is made in New York using the city’s legendary water, then shipped to PizzaVito™ twice a week.  The homemade sauce is made using tomatoes from one of the country’s best tomato farms in California.  In addition, PizzaVito™ uses state-of-the-art equipment, including pizza ovens from Marsal & Sons, a dough press by Cuppone, and an advanced touch screen system by InTouch POS®.  PizzaVito’s real estate is being handled by Barrister Realty, who also represents Starbucks Coffee, Five Guys Burger & Fries, and Alltel Wireless.

In February 2008, PizzaVito™ selected The Titan Agency, one of the fastest growing agencies in the Southeast, as its Agency of Record to provide branding, marketing and advertising tools to PizzaVito™ and its franchise stores.  Recently, Titan unveiled “The World According to Vito” campaign for PizzaVito™, which centers on the unique personality of Vito.  Included in the marketing program are professionally designed and produced in-store marketing materials, print, television, radio and online initiatives.  

“The PizzaVito™ concept was drawn up on a napkin while we sat around a table eating pizza Vito had made,” said Tony DeMartino, CEO of Titan.  “Coming up with The World According to Vito campaign idea was even easier.  Anyone who has ever met Vito DiBartolo knows what a fun-loving and truly unique personality he has, and we wanted his iconic character reflected through the branding.”

PizzaVito™, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, is a family-friendly pizzeria that offers real New York pizza and Italian ices.  Its New York-inspired menu offers dine-in, delivery and Take and Bake pizzas made with quality ingredients preserving the mouthwatering flavors that made The Big Apple famous.  PizzaVito™ sells pizza by the slice or pie, calzones, strombolis, garlic knots, Italian seasoned potato wedges, and Italian ice.  PizzaVito™ is open from Sun-Thurs, 11am-11pm, and Fri-Sat, 11am-3am.  

The Titan Agency, formed in 2001, brought together the talents, disciplines and experience of big agency principals, an award-winning chief creative officer, a corporate marketing executive, a venture capital expert and an attorney into a smaller, more approachable environment. The agency is headquartered in Atlanta with a second office in Miami. Titan offers a bottom-line return on marketing investments and has attracted Fortune 500 companies such as L3 Communications and AGCO Corporation, multi-billion dollar Japanese company, Rinnai Corporation, and Movietickets.com, the leading provider of online movie ticketing.  According to industry rankings, Titan is one of the top ten agencies in terms of percentage growth over the past five years. For more information, please visit www.thetitanagency.com.