Freda Wood Toups
August 4, 2009
Clara Arabie Hoskins
August 6, 2009
Since 1979, Little Caesars Pizza has been known for its catchphrase “Pizza! Pizza!” which means you can get two pizzas for the price of one, according to Little Caesars corporate owners Michael and Marian Ilitch.
However, in the Houma area it has been the corporation’s other catchphrase “Hot-n-Ready Pizza” that has kept local franchise owner Jamie Darcey busy for the last month.
Houma’s Little Caesars opened on June 23, and residents packed the CitiPlace Shopping Center parking lot on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Darcey, 40, of Houma, said residents were coming in and out with two and three boxes of hot-n-ready pizzas.
“We filled hundreds of orders for large pepperoni or cheese pizzas, crazy bread and sauce combos and the cheesiest Italian cheesy bread ever,” he said. “It was good to see all the people waiting for us to open. We couldn’t keep enough pizzas, bread or wings in the oven. I mean we were busy from the time we opened to the time we closed. It was absolutely wonderful to see.”
One month later, Darcey is still packing in the business.
“At 10:50 a.m., they start standing outside waiting on us to open,” he said.
Darcey’s drive to own a pizza place comes from a childhood dream that he shared with his nephew, Ashley Darcey, who is one of the managers at the establishment.
“I have always been fascinated with the way they make the pizzas,” Darcey said. “It was kind of like a kid wanting to be a fireman. I wanted to make pizzas. Ashley and I used to try to make our own pizza dough at home as kids. It didn’t taste as good as the Little Caesars pizza, but it was OK.”
Ashley Darcey is a veteran with the Little Caesar franchise, having worked at another Louisiana location for six years. He was able to lend his uncle a helping hand preparing freshly baked pizzas, wings and breads.
Darcey’s Little Caesars is not the first for the Houma area. A husband and wife team from outside of the Houma area owned the first establishment 18 years ago.
Darcey, an accountant-turned-business owner, worked for his father Jessie Darcey at Darcey Meat Market in Houma, before deciding to buy into the pizza franchise a year ago. (His father’s West Main store closed two years ago after the elder Darcey’s death.)
It was Little Caesars’ 50-year legacy, and the fact that the fast pizza industry was underserved in the Houma-Thibodaux area that attracted Jamie Darcey to the business.
“I knew the product was still good because they have been in business for 50 years,” he said. “The pizza is delicious, at a great value. You actually get what you pay for. You can feed the whole family for under $16. Or get a large pizza for $6. There is nowhere you can get a true 14-inch pizza for $6.”
Little Caesars offers hot pizzas for carry out, Italian cheese bread and crazy bread with crazy sauce and Buffalo wings.
Pizza-lovers can customize their own pizza with select toppings. Granted they won’t be hot-n-ready pizzas, but Darcey assures they will be ready in a timely fashion. He said most orders don’t exceed 15 minutes on a busy day, eight minutes on a normal day.
Another attraction was that the market had the least number of competitors.
“We have our niche, fast pizzas,” he said. “So I wouldn’t say we have any competitors because there is room for all of us to succeed. We have our customers, and they have theirs. Sometimes we get their customers and sometimes they will get ours. Either way, we have repeat business.”
After purchasing the franchise, Darcey had to deal with finding a location. He was fortunate to get in the part of Houma that is growing the fastest, the Martin Luther King Boulevard corridor.
“The area is expanding over here,” he said. “Before long we will be right in the middle of all the foot traffic that comes in and out of Houma. Our establishment is in a good location that’s very easily accessible.”
Little Ceasars of Houma Manager Ashley Darcey preps two pepperoni pizzas for the oven. Owner Jamie Darcey (Ashley’s uncle) opened the Martin Luther King site on June 23. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN
