Papa Murphy's OKC expansion plans

**metro** · 10-04-2007, 08:33 AM

I know we briefly talked before that Papa Murphy's planned on opening more OKC area restaurants, but here is an official article. There was not previously a thread dedicated to Papa Murphy's so here you go:

Home-baked pizza chain plans growth

October 4, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – One pizza chain is planning a major expansion in Oklahoma and hopes customers will like the idea of baking their own pizzas at home.

Vancouver, Wash.-based Papa Murphy’s was formed in 1995 and currently there are two Papa Murphy’s in the Oklahoma City metro area and one in the Tulsa area.

Jim Werling, Papa Murphy’s director of franchise sales, said the company plans an aggressive growth with 26 more locations slated for Oklahoma City and the western part of the state by 2010. Tulsa is also set to see two more Papa Murphy’s by the end of the year.

Papa Murphy’s concept involves selling pizzas prepared but not cooked so that customers can bake them at home. Werling said Papa Murphy’s competition comes more from gourmet frozen pizzas available at grocery stores rather than from other ready-made pizza chains.

Papa Murphy’s offers restaurant-quality ingredients fresh from the oven and the convenience of frozen pizza. Werling said the company is expanding east and pursuing multiple locations in Oklahoma and Texas. So far the company has expanded as far east as Ohio. The company is just the latest pizza chain with growth plans in Oklahoma.

Ohio-based Marco’s Pizza plans to open 38 stores in Oklahoma City and Tulsa beginning in October. Oklahoma City is slated for 21 of those stores with Tulsa getting 17. Marco’s identified Oklahoma as one of 100 potential markets for expansion. The company has 159 restaurants in markets around the country and has its sights on opening 500 around the country by 2010.The company stated it saw strength in the Oklahoma market with the potential for aggressive growth in coming years.

But in a market where pizza chains are ubiquitous, Werling said Papa Murphy’s grabs a different slice of the $33 billion pizza industry by not baking its pizzas, offering delivery or having sit-down dining rooms.The restaurants typically locate in strip malls with grocery store anchors.Werling said about half a dozen individuals came to a franchise recruiting meeting last week in Oklahoma City to look into opening Papa Murphy’s locations.The requirements for a franchise include an investor having a net worth of $250,000 with $80,000 in liquid assets. But prior restaurant experience is not required.

Franchise owner Eric Walter prepares an all-meat stuffed-crust pizza Thursday at his Papa Murphy’s Pizza in Edmond. (Photo by Chris Albers)

The Journal Record

**tnajk** · 10-07-2007, 10:20 AM

Yum! I miss Papa Murphy's,

**Karried** · 10-07-2007, 11:02 AM

Papa Murphys has the absolute best take out (cook at home) pizza ever! We loved it in CA.

The pizzas are big and the toppings generous... I think we used to pay $5.99 each about 5 years ago for Pepperoni. The kids love it.

But, my favorite is the Chicken with Garlic White Sauce. Soooo good!

**metro** · 10-08-2007, 08:37 AM

Yeah, you have to get the Creamy Garlic Sauce, it's the best. They've been open in OKC for about a year now, or Edmond and S. OKC I should say. There is another post on it as well. Don't wait to get your fix since they're already here.