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LITTLE CAESARS: What Franchisees Make on a $5 Pizza

Question:  Can Little Caesar’s franchise owners really make money on a five-dollar pizza?

Answer:  Not much. 

SmartMoney.com surveyed franchisees from different franchise chains regarding the cost to them of some current and recent promotions. The Smart Money article points out that franchisees generally bear the brunt of a promotions’s cost, including the food, labor, rent and utilities, among other things.

Here’s the Little Caesars HOT-N-READY pizza promotion, which report a $.90 profit per $5 pizza:

Little Caesars

Promotion: HOT-N-READY Pizza – Get one 14-inch large cheese or pepperoni pizza for $5 at participating locations.

Pre-promotion price: $10.99 (one large one-topping pizza)

Promotion Price: $5

Bottom line for restaurant: Profit of roughly 90 cents a pizza

Introduced six years ago, Little Ceasars [sic]HOT-N-READY Pizza promotion offers 14-inch cheese and pepperoni pies for just $5. Even though some stores charge about 55 cents more than that, margins are still slim. The cost of a single pizza’s ingredients and packaging amounts to about $3.50, according to a franchise operator in Georgia. Tack on another 60 cents for rent, labor and utilities and franchisees earn roughly 90 cents a pie. Little Caesars’ spokeswoman Colleen Kmiecik says the company’s own calculation on per-item profitability differs from those provided to us by franchisees, but she declined to provide specific figures. She also says the company provides long-term profitability information to its franchisees to show how the promotion will boost their bottom line, but would not provide further details.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF LITTLE CAESARS PROMOTIONS?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.





66 thoughts on “LITTLE CAESARS: What Franchisees Make on a $5 Pizza

  • I’m a franchisee in michigan and currently looking to move in a better environment so I can sell LC pizza all yr round.I read all of ur comments but in my own experience LC help me in my worst time.im sorry ti disagree with almost everybody’s number.if u own a store fully paid ur looking at a good return on ur investment if not u will stills survive.don’t forget the store pay for itself in 7 yrs that means u already have a 15 percent return every yr aside from what u take home.how I wish I could open as many store I can even with a partner to achieve faster growth.anybody know a little Caesars for sale in Cali,Arizona,Vegas and any warmth weather territory pls email me at [redacted] and I will be happy to entertain any proposition.to make this story short location and good operators can give u that security that ur looking for

  • I am starting to look into buying into LC frachise. I would greatly appreciate any and all guidance. I am located in California.

  • Huy Nguyen

    I’m looking for investor who would like to partner with me in opening a LC in Sacramento California. Please e-mail me if your interested and we can work out the numbers.

  • Lemontve green

    I would like to open a little LC also.How much are u talking about investing.

  • I am planning on opening a LC in California. I am looking for an investor.. If interested please email me at [redacted]

  • So yea… im not a franchisee… call me.. a former customer of little caesars… The price is right from a customer stand point… but simply put… I cannot eat their pizza… I eat other pizza… but little caesars pizza gives me the absolute worst heartburn ever.. and I have no idea why… googling “little caesars heartburn” turns up just an enormous amount of results and complaints… I used to eat it often… I just thought I had some sort of problem that was just me… Until I searched google and saw these results… then I stopped eating little caesars pizza… after about 3 months (no heartburn might I add)… I was for some reason craving some crazy bread and a LC pizza… So I went back and got some… Needless to say I had extreme heartburn… I mean… when you taste acid coming up in your throat… its a problem… havent had a LC pizza since… and havent had heartburn since (except when I got a pizza hut pizza… that too gave me a little heartburn… but not as bad as LC)…

    So.. now… The only pizza I eat is from non-chain pizza joints that use home made sauce… I never get heartburn from them..

    I have come to the determination that there is some preservative used in processed… mass produced sauces that somehow causes a negative reaction to the tomatoes.. that may or may not cause heart burn in some people… either way… I am kind of angry that I cant have LC pizza anymore… I mean… It does taste good… price is awesome.. one kind of close to me.. but its not worth the 6 hours of heartburn and sleepless nights…

    I would advise franchisees to contact corporate to see if they are aware of the issue and maybe correct it.. because its god awful heartburn..

  • I’m from corning ny and I have unusual request for anyone looking to start a franchise for LC, START ONE UP IN CORNING NY. About 15 years ago there use to be one in my area but has been gone since and closest one to me is hours away so I’m sure there would be some good business in this area for little ceasars. Thx

  • Aamir

    I am thinking about to get LC . What is the profit margins and how much does it take to open one LC .

  • Roxanne Bolivar

    Looking into LC franchise. Can anyone share profit margins and any cons? Thanks.

  • I have the perfect place that would be most profitable. I believe we can get the cost to make the 5$ pizza way down, I dont understand why it costs 3.50,,I think someone is not researching deep enough,therefore profits are much much higher. I need investor,,but very very interested.
    Lori

  • I’ve been interested in investing in Little Caesars Pizza in NJ for quite some time. Is anyone on this forum a current NJ owner and/or operator available to provide advice or possibly looking for an equity partner?

  • Ahmed Hasan

    I am interested in opening a LC in Tracy, CA.
    I am open to partnership as well.
    Thanks!

  • Grumbly

    Hi Pizza Girl would you mind telling me the process, and how much are you really making or if its worth it spending 100K on this?

  • All I have right now is a pot I pissed in and a window I threw the pot out of. When can I meet with someone to trade these two rare items for a $1.4MM cardboard pizza franchise? Rubber pepperoni and fake cheese on a crust of cardboard is the scrumptious get-rich-quick scheme this food con-a-sewer has been praying for: Dear God, make me a rich prick. That li’l fuck in the toga has answered my prayers … obviously from Jesus’ time based on the way he’s dressed. Oh wait, he’s the little shit that crucified Christ. Maybe they should call it Little Caiphas, Little Annas, or Little Pontius Pilate … after all, the cardboard dago pie IS betraying real food. When I open my store, it’ll cost ya 30 pieces of silver per pizza.

  • Stay away, Do not invest in this company.
    I had a store on the east coast for 7 years. The only time I made a profit was in the first 9 months.
    Then numbers start to level off and your expences start to increase, like the price of cheese. Which is controlled by the stock market and blue line. In the summer I sometimes paid 30 dollars more per case because of a water drought. Corporates answer is to build another store to offset your original store, LOL.
    I had 25 people in my class, some people opened more than one store. THREE ARE ONLY OPEN TODAY IN 2019. The biggest hint was when my landlord would only give me a six year lease with an option to extend. He knew exactly what would happen. At 5 bucks you made 25 cents. Just enough to keep your doors open and to feed corporate and blue line every week. It is set up to fail. If you are lucky enough to survive it is because you are in the middle of no where paying 2000 a month for rent. Worst decision of my life. Remember folks the people at corporate do not care about you, they care about corporate because of profit sharing and kick backs. They could care less when a store closes because someone new is in a class getting ready to open up his or her new store. Some people would drop five grand per week in sales for no reason. Then they send someone to hand out flyers and give away free crazy bread. ITS TO LATE.
    250k investment to make 500 a week, kinda stupid. Live and learn but don’t make this mistake.
    That son of a bitch should be rolling around in his grave. They destroy lives.

  • Interested in opening a LC franchise please let me know something

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