Two years ago, when Boston Pizza opened its newest location in Hope, British Columbia, the restaurant’s layout wasn’t what most people would expect of a Boston Pizza franchise. Its square footage was 30 percent smaller than most locations the popular chain had constructed in the past two decades, and featured a separate entrance for delivery and takeout orders.

The new design was desperately needed, says Boston Pizza president Jordan Holm. Franchise operators were reporting streams of takeout customers and delivery couriers in the main entrance of their businesses, waiting for orders alongside dine-in customers expecting to be seated. 

“It clogged the flow of customer traffic and it was a lot for our hosts to deal with,” says Holm, noting that the surge in online delivery orders—which now make up 25 per cent of Boston Pizza’s total sales—demanded they not only reduce their dining room space, but tinker with their typical layout. He says the new design of franchises like Hope’s is emblematic of a new approach the company is undertaking: build smaller and smarter.  

First opening its doors in Edmonton in 1964, Boston Pizza now serves more than 40 million guests a year across 375 locations in Canada. Back then, the company steadily built its franchises in freestanding buildings near malls and big-box retailers—think strip malls with large parking lots. 

“People used to go to the mall or a movie at these big-box areas, and come to Boston Pizza before or after for a meal,” says Holm. “But a lot has changed in 20 years, and how people entertain themselves has definitely shifted.” 

As fewer people frequented malls, Boston Pizza’s once profitable strategy could not be relied upon anymore, especially in smaller, rural communities such as Hope. Integral to the company’s long-term profitability, opening more franchises in these less populous communities was the goal. But in order to successfully enter these markets, they needed to rethink how their restaurants were designed. 

By reducing a typical franchise’s size from 6,500 square feet to around 4,800 square feet, the company could build restaurants that fit more snugly into smaller cities and towns, since these communities didn’t require the kind of expansive space of past franchises. In order to reduce their footprint, the company needed to eliminate as many non-revenue generating areas their restaurants typically featured. 

The easiest way to reduce floor space was to get rid of the area separating the bar from the dining section, once mandated by law when smoking in restaurants was still legal. The easing of provincial and municipal alcohol laws, allowing underage kids to be seated closer to bars, made the extra space doubly redundant. 

In select locations, such as their restaurant in Hope, the company installed a dedicated, separate delivery-takeout entrance and exit, built to circumvent the bottleneck of customers that regularly appeared at the front doors. 

At the heart of Boston Pizza’s strategy is an aim to capitalize on what’s working and shedding what’s not, because sometimes it’s not about scaling back, but renovating strategically. The chain has always boasted spacious patios, but when the company realized that three-season enclosed patios could offer customers more space during high pressure days, they installed new sound systems and heaters to seat more customers. In Vaughan, Ontario, Boston Pizza opened a franchise in a formerly-shuttered family restaurant, saving on construction costs. Customers of the old restaurant began popping into the renovated restaurant, out of habit.          

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Moving forward, Holm says Boston Pizza is looking to open more of their new, compact franchises in places like airports, hotels and stadiums—places that need vendors who are willing to work with less floor space, but are rewarded with a captive clientele, one that’s less likely to be swayed by other competition. 

“When we look to underserviced markets and smaller communities, these are places where we need to deliver a compelling business investment opportunity for franchisees,” says Holm. “For us, that means being efficient with a smaller footprint.”