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N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 • r e s t a u r a n t d e v e l o p m e n t + d e s i g n • 2 3 Dara Maleki, Founder, President and CEO of The Pizza Press Q&A; with Dara Maleki Founder, President and CEO of The Pizza Press Y ou go to a thousand of these; they all have the same seats, same chairs, same menu board. It be- comes a little too much over time. Am I just stepping into a different color theme and a different logo?" That's Dara Maleki's take on the state of design in fast casual — too many chains looking too much alike. When it came time to develop the look and, as he put it, the experience of his own chain, Maleki was set on doing something different. He named it The Pizza Press (as in pressing dough) and then built on the word press to establish an early to mid 20th century newspaper/ newsroom theme, when newspapers were the cutting edge. The Pizza Press is now in an expansion phase, growing outside its home base of Southern California into the Southwestern U.S. It anticipates opening as many as 75 new stores in the next year. Maleki spoke with rd+d on the importance of providing people with an experience through design, establishing a franchise team to support rapid growth and ensuring franchisees maintain the brand's identity. rd+d: There have been several fast-casual pizza companies to emerge recently. What are you doing to stand out? DM: We try to distinguish ourselves from the ever growing number of companies in this market by offering great craft pizza, great craft beer and delivering an experi- ence through the environment we set. I really think quality of environment has become an important trend. We want to set a higher design standard and a certain comfort level that really satisfes customers and their [desire for an] experience. Being born in Yorba Linda, Calif, and having family businesses in a resort area, working with Disneyland creating an experience became one of our core values. That's where we really wanted to take it, from the way the dough is pressed and playing off the word press and turning it into a sort of newspaper throwback with a Restoration Hardware feel, from Edison lights to subway tile to some really great wood moldings. rd+d: What's your growth strategy? DM: We're really looking at Southern California and the Southwest region for our core growth. I think they're simi- lar markets. As we move into Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and even the west side of Texas, it's just very easy for not only our distribution, [but also for] keeping consistency in the brand. rd+d: Since the brand and experience are so important to The Pizza Press, how do you fnd the right franchisees to follow through in those areas? DM: We outsource our sales. [Our sales frm] vets people to see if they have the ability and the experience. Then when it comes to discovery day, that's when we really start getting to the Q&A; to really see if our personalities and our visions line up. It's more about the vision than anything else. If you can't share a similar vision, it doesn't matter what kind of business plan you've got — there's going to be some part of the experience that will be lost. rd+d: So what do franchisees say they like about your concept? DM: When we talk with our franchisees, it's not just the product line, but really BY TOBY WEBER, Contributing Editor Peer to Peer