When Mary's Pizza Shack launches its new restaurant brand next year, it will leave the "shack" behind.
The homegrown Sonoma County company is diversifying for the first time in its 50-year history, responding to changing tastes and consumer spending habits.
The family Italian food chain is getting into fast-casual dining, the hottest trend in the restaurant business.
Fast-casual, a step up from fast food but offering less service than a typical sit-down restaurant, is growing in popularity as cost-conscious consumers try to stretch their dining dollars.
Fast-casual restaurants offer made-to-order food with meals costing $7 to $12. Brands such as Panera, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Quiznos lead the fast-casual pack.
Mary's entry is Rostini, a contemporary Italian place built around a brick oven, with roast chicken, pizza and other menu items made from scratch.
"It won't look anything like a pizza shack," said Cullen Williamson, who was Mary's CEO for 28 years before shifting his focus to the Rostini project.
He plans to open two Rostini locations by the end of 2010, with the first one in Sonoma or Napa County.
"We want to get these stores in a market we're very familiar with," Williamson said. He'll have a significant share of the new company, although Mary's Pizza Shack will retain majority ownership. Together, the investors will spend about $2 million to get both locations off the ground.
Mary Fazio was a 46-year-old single mom in 1959 when she opened her first pizza shack in a converted house on Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs. She invested her $700 life savings and used the pots and pans -- and recipes -- from her own kitchen.
The place proved so popular that Fazio's family started opening other locations. Today, Mary's has 18 pizza shacks in Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Solano, Contra Costa, Shasta and Placer counties.
The Sonoma-based company has nearly 900 employees and posts about $28 million a year in sales.
Mary Fazio died in 1999, but her family still owns and operates the business. Williamson, 52, is Fazio's grandson-in-law.
Mary's new CEO, grandson Vince Albano, grew up in the restaurant and rose to the position of chief operating officer before assuming the top post.
"I've been here since I could reach the counter," he said. "I used to make gnocchi with her."
Mary's grew quickly in the '80s and '90s, adding new locations mostly in neighborhood shopping centers. The company franchised some of the units, but has since repurchased several of them.
The company plans to keep future Mary's locations in the family, said Albano, 47.
"Our strength is owning company restaurants and managing them ourselves," he said. "My grandmother's name is on the building."
In 2007, Mary's opened its largest restaurant, a 164-seat dining spot that faces Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa. The urban location was a change for Mary's, but it's been a success, Albano said.
"I like the activity downtown," he said.
Mary's has felt the impact of the recession, with companywide sales down about 10 percent since last October. In response, the business trimmed operating expenses and added lower-cost menu items.
The company's fast-casual venture has been in the works for several years. "That's the segment with the fastest growth," Albano said.
The niche is attractive to cost-conscious consumers who enjoying eating out but are looking for something nicer than fast food.
"The fast-casual segment has been performing better in this economy," said Mike Donohue of the National Restaurant Association, a Washington D.C.-based trade group. "It offers the extra value of a quick-service restaurant with an enhanced dining experience."
After honing its pizza shack business model over the last five decades, Mary's wanted to try something different, Williamson said.
"We're diversifying a little -- not having all our eggs in one basket," he said.
Rostini will be aimed at a slightly younger market, with self-service and an "Italian hip" design, Williamson said. "It has a lower price point, it's convenient, and it's still quality, made-to-order food," he said.
Rostini will use some of Fazio's recipes, but most menu items will be new, he said. A meal will cost $7 to $10.
While a Mary's Pizza Shack has about 60 workers, Rostini will employ 20 to 25, Williamson said. The difference is important, because the labor pool of 16- to 24-year-olds has been shrinking, he said.
If Rostini is a success, Mary's may choose to franchise the model, Williamson said.
"This business will be a lot easier to learn," he said.
Fazio would be happy about the changes at Mary's, Williamson said.
"She'd like the fact that the family is still running the business, trying new things and taking some risks," he said. "She'd say, 'Hey, go for it.' "
You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.
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