NUMERO UNO PARENT BUYS SANDWICH CHAIN.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer Facing competition from delivery pizza chains and mom-and-pop pizzerias, the Van Nuys-based parent of Numero Uno nu·me·ro u·no n. Slang 1. One that is first in rank, order, or importance. 2. One's own interests; oneself. adj. Number one. bought a sandwich fast food chain in Oregon Oregon, city, United States Oregon, city (1990 pop. 18,334), Lucas co., NW Ohio, a suburb adjacent to Toledo, on Lake Erie; inc. 1958. It is a port with railroad-owned and -operated docks. The city has industries producing oil, chemicals, and metal products. to boost lunch hour business. On Tuesday, N.U. Pizza Corp. finalized See finalization. the purchase of Oregon's Original Sandwich Express and Bakery chain, an upscale eatery with 10 franchisees. For $200,000, the pizza and pasta While the only basic difference between these names is the shape of the pasta, each pasta is typically matched with a particular sauce based on cooking time, consistency, ability to hold sauce, ease of eating, etc. restaurateur res·tau·ra·teur also res·tau·ran·teur n. The manager or owner of a restaurant. [French, from restaurer, to restore; see restaurant. got the rights to the sandwich chain's name, franchise fees and a manufacturing plant in Salem, Ore. N.U. Pizza will merge both restaurant concepts together in a new eatery to be called Formaggi/Sandwich Express - serving mainly sandwiches for lunch and pizza and pasta for dinner. The company will open them in Oregon. ``This the beginning of a very aggressive expansion program by Numero Uno,'' said Ron Gelet, N.U. Pizza president. The company plans to open 10 of the new style restaurants initially in the Portland and Eugene area within 12 months. There are no current plans to open one in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). . ``By merging one concept into another and maybe taking the best from both concepts, it's a lot less risky,'' said Janet Lowder, president of Restaurant Management Service, a restaurant consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a in Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Pal·os Ver·des A city of southern California on a channel of the Pacific Ocean west of Long Beach. Population: 42,100. . ``If they implement it successfully, they should do well.'' Deborah Hill, the former president of Sandwich Express, will head operations for a new subsidiary that will handle the Formaggi restaurants. Sandwich Express contacted N.U. Pizza for the possibility of being purchased after seeing an ad placed by the Valley firm announcing its interest in making acquisitions, Gelet said. ``We were looking to develop a new dual concept,'' he said. ``When we saw that Sandwich Express was available, we realized that it fit what we wanted to do almost to a T.'' Eighty percent of Numero Uno's business came from its dinner crowd, so the chain searched for a ``sandwich concept'' to increase its lunch business. Gelet said Sandwich Express fit the bill since it derives 80 percent of sales from its lunch patrons. Gelet said Numero Uno decided not to develop a sandwich shop itself because it was more economical to buy an existing company. ``These are established stores, with cash flow and profitability,'' he added. Sandwich Express has systemwide sales - meaning sales at all its franchised restaurants - of $3.5 million a year. Company revenues, made up of franchise fees, are $300,000 annually. This year, N.U. Pizza forecasts systemwide sales of $27 million and revenues of $4 million. |
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