RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. — Within the next couple of weeks, John’s Incredible Pizza will make its namesake pizza and other menu items available for takeout as the business looks for ways to remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Founded in 1997, the Rancho Santa Margarita-based family fun center has had to keep 12 of its locations in California and one in Portland closed due to California and Oregon health official’s shutdown and stay-at-home orders to stem the spread of COVID-19. After temporarily being closed, its sole Las Vegas operation is open.
“It’s been devastating for the entire restaurant industry, including John’s Incredible Pizza,” the company's Director of Marketing and Sales Brad Jashinsky said. “Right now, we’re focusing and hoping to reopen soon. We’re planning to do takeout within the next few weeks. We’re going to start in Las Vegas, then roll it out into the other stores as they reopen.”
John’s Incredible Pizza’s move mirrors that of other restaurants as they grapple with the pandemic’s economic impact and shift business models to try earning a profit during the health pandemic. So far, the family entertainment, and themed entertainment, industry has struggled.
CEC Entertainment, the parent company of John’s main competitors, Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced last month it would close 34 locations nationwide — including five in Southern California.
The IAAPA, an organization representing the attractions industry that includes major theme parks from Disneyland to museums and zoos and family entertainment centers, estimates that the global pandemic will cause more than $23 billion in economic losses this year nationally. More than 235,000 jobs in the attractions industry have been lost in the U.S., the IAAPA reported.
For John’s Incredible Pizza, these months have been incredibly tough since the pandemic shut down its business model. John’s is a familiar sight at malls and a popular destination for families hosting kid birthday parties or gatherings. Normally, children play in an indoor arcade while enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet of pizza, salad, pasta, soup, fried chicken, and more.
For retail owners, John’s is usually an anchor tenant that occupies more than 50,000 square feet of space – about the size of a football field – and brings much needed foot traffic to the malls. Jashinsky said John’s annually attracts millions of customers across its 14 locations in three states.
Before the coronavirus, John’s had just celebrated the opening of its 14th location in Carson, its first in Los Angeles County. The business was looking to expand and capitalize on the experiential retail trend at brick-and-mortar locations, Jashinsky said, adding that John’s usually opens a new store every 18 months.
“It was an exciting moment for us,” Jashinsky said. “We had just opened our first location in L.A. County. We were continuing to look for opportunities to expand.”
But when the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, the company closed all of its family fun centers and furloughed most of its 1,500 employees.
The company remained afloat with money from the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, but the business is still scraping by, Jashinsky said. He would not disclose how much the company received.
When California reopened businesses in May, John’s reopened all of its locations in June and brought back its employees, but the centers were only open for a couple of weeks before another surge of coronavirus cases in Orange County, and across the state, forced state officials to order another shutdown.
“That second closure was really difficult. We brought back a lot of our employees and then had to furlough them again,” he said.
Now, like many other businesses, John’s is just playing the waiting game.
“That’s the most frustrating part in all of this, no matter how much research we do, there’s nothing that we can really do,” Jashinsky said. “We have to wait until health officials allow us to reopen.”
If there is a silver lining in this experience, John’s has adopted new technology into its business plan. The Las Vegas store has been the company’s testing ground.
The arcade games have been spread at least six feet apart to meet social distancing requirements. Multiplayer arcade games can only be used by those in the same household. The company has also stepped up its cleaning measures and added hand sanitizers.
Since buffets are not allowed, John’s has switched to all-you-can-eat table dine-in service. For up to two hours, visitors can order food and drinks via the John Incredible Pizza application on their smartphone. Servers bring specific items to the customer’s table.
The ordering-by-app has allowed John’s to collect data from their customers. It is still early, but the data so far collected has allowed management to see the most popular items customers are ordering, as well as the least ordered menu items. This gives John’s management a heads up on how much of one specific item they should be preparing or not making.
“The data collecting has been significant,” Jashinsky said, adding that the company will continue to collect data from its customers at other stores once it is allowed to reopen. “It gives us a better idea of what our guests are enjoying and allows us to provide better food. It also will allow us to customize our marketing strategy and our menu offerings.”
Jashinksy said the company is monitoring the coronavirus cases in the state and waiting for the governor or health officials to reopen the state.
“I’m hopeful that this is just a minor speed bump and it’ll give businesses like John’s and others time for reflection, and adapt to a better way of doing things better,” he said.