Nearly everyone has a Shakey’s memory, says Shakey’s Pizza chief executive Tim Pulido.
For years, the Sacramento-based pizza chain, renowned for its ‘Bunch of Lunch’ buffet, Mojo potatoes and striped-shirted banjo players, served as a gathering place for birthday parties, family reunions and Little League teams after a big game. At its peak, Shakey’s boasted close to 400 restaurants around the United States.
‘There is an enormous amount of warmth and nostalgia, and fond memories, about the brand that people tap into,’ Pulido said. ‘It is amazing. Everyone has got a Shakey’s story.’
Pulido, a 14-year Pizza Hut veteran who was appointed CEO of Shakey’s in February 2006, hopes to leverage that nostalgia into a rebirth of the Shakey’s brand, which has fallen on hard times over the past 20 years. Currently, Shakey’s operates just 55 restaurants, mainly in California.
In part because of the brand’s near-universal awareness, the number of restaurants could quadruple within 5 years.
‘We get these wonderful stories of Shakey’s’ memories from peoples’ youth,’ Pulido said. ‘This brand has so much latent power that hasn’t been effectively leveraged. I think once we get it right, it will soar.’ Read more: Hard time blues.
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