sales and franchisee complaints, Little Caesar brought in a new advertising agency and implemented a plan to emphasize quality and products' ingredients. It has also announced a makeover plan for its stores. In July 1999 Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. closed between 300 and 400 company-owned stores in several markets in an effort to revitalize the whole system. In July 1999, Little Caesar also detailed a program to increase the marketing activities of local co-ops in the system by reducing franchisees' payments of advertising fees from 4 percent to 2 percent and curtailing national promotions. Little Caesar made its mark on the pizza world through its bold and wacky advertising, most notably for the "Pizza! Pizza!" deal, which offers two pies for the price of one. Headquartered in Detroit, Little Caesar Enterprises' boasts roughly 4,500 restaurants (25 percent are company-owned) in a dozen countries, ranking in at #3 in size behind #1 Pizza Hut, and #2 ranked Domino's. The company is also facing new competition for up-and-comer Papa John's, the #4 US pizza chain.Rather than emphasizing speedy delivery, Little Caesar's focuses on carryout and touts the quality of its pizza, Grade A cheese, specially grown California tomatoes and high-gluten flour. They have lower overhead and maintenance costs than sit-down or delivery-only outlets, since they do not require waiters, busboys, dishwashers or delivery personnel.Restaurant analysts and industry observers concluded that Little Caesar's was the only national pizza chain, among the segment's four most powerful players, that did not prosper. Although privately held Little Caesar's has not been forthcoming with sales results, this chain has been plagued in recent years with declining volumes and franchised-store closures reportedly. Little Caesars' inconsistent marketing strategies and high equipment costs have caused their years of declining sales. Graph 5 indicates a nine-year growt...
