Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
RET AILING TODA Y Pie Face brings savory treat to U.S. By Devony Jackson Pie Face has put smiles on Australian faces since 2003. Now the purveyor of savory meat pies is bringing its business to U.S. shores with a three-store pilot program in New York City. The meat pie — a hand-size pastry filled with meat, gravy, onions, mush- rooms and cheese, is an iconic snack in Australia and New Zealand. Such pies make up much of Pie Face's menu. Each pie has a face on the crust that indicates the flavor. For example, the chicken- mushroom pie has a smiley face, while the steak pie has a squiggly face. Pie Face also offers a variety of pastries, muf- fins and sweets. All these are baked at a central commissary and delivered fresh daily. Specialty coffees bring in up to 30 percent of sales, says Bob Ozdemir, the chain's franchise development director. Pie Face has grown rapidly through- out Australia by franchising. The chain operates 51 shops there, of which 12 are corporately owned. Pie Face fran- chises are opening in Australia at the rate of about three a month. We see more than a center of commerce. We see the center of a community. Pie Face's operation requires a mini- mal footprint (225 square feet) and minimal equipment, because pies are made at a central location, then frozen or chilled, and baked in stores. Once baked, they can last in pie-warmers for over eight hours. Some locations are open 24 hours a day, and the varied menu, which ranges from Thai chicken curry pies to cherry pies, draws traffic all day long, Ozdemir says. The average unit volume for a store in Australia is the equivalent of $560,000, and the av- erage transaction value is about $6. Pie Face's first U.S. unit opened in January in New York City, on Broad- way near the famed Ed Sullivan The- VISIT US AT BOOTH C203 L STREET ater, home of The Late Show with David Letterman. "Pie Face has brought over an exciting new concept that is deli- cious and original," said Cityvest Re- alty's Marc Stemple, the broker who represented the landlord in Broadway lease and a subsequent lease in the city's Kips Bay neighborhood. Will Pie Face fly in the U.S.? "Pie Face has a tasty product at an affordable CONTACT US: INFO@ROUSEPROPERTIES.COM ROUSEPROPERTIES.COM 212.608.5108 NYSE : RSE 112 SCT / MAY 2012 price," said Jenny Miller, editor of Grub Street, the popular foodie blog. "The portability of the pies would make it a natural fit to be sold as a quick-service food in malls and urban street front lo- cations across the country." SCT