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Noble Roman's Inc. is staking its future on convenience stores and gas stations.
The locally based pizza chain, which operates 57 full-service restaurants, has opened 173 franchised Noble Roman's Pizza Express units since early last year. And it has plans to open at least 30 more before the end of 1998.
"The growth of the Pizza Express units really started to explode this year," said Noble Roman's President Scott Mobley. "We weren't prepared for how popular they would be."
If the Express division grows as anticipated, its contribution to Noble Roman's bottom line could eventually outpace that of the full-service restaurants, according to Mobley. In 1998 alone, the Express division could account for al least half of the company's total profitability.
The Pizza Express concept--a modified version of the full-service Noble Roman's restaurants--enables operators of convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, universities, hotels and airports to offer the pizza chain's products on-site. Unlike the full-service restaurants, the Express units are relatively inexpensive to operate and require minimal square footage and labor.
Noble Roman's has sold Express unit franchises to a number of convenience store operators and grocery store owners in several states. including Indiana Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina....