There will be a new "Papa" at Papa John's (NASDAQ:PZZA) come April when Nigel Travis takes over as CEO of the pizza delivery chain. He will be coming over from Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) where he served as President and COO. Blockbuster? Yes, Blockbuster. So let's squash a few rumors before they start.
No, Papa John's won't be rolling out a $14.99 all-you-can-eat monthly plan. Then again, it would certainly be awfully amusing to see folks cramming empty pizza boxes into their mailboxes in order to get the next pie in their queue heading their way.
No, the chain won't start renting out pizzas. Period.
No, it won't be selling pies at marked down prices that were previously rented. Remember? No renting of the pizzas?
No, the new "No Late Fee" policy at Blockbuster won't be ported over to Papa John's, so you can't just order a cheese pizza and pile on as many ingredients as you want as freebies.
No, Papa John's pizzas won't be delivered in plastic blue and yellow boxes.
Yes, I think Travis is an excellent hire. That's because Papa John's knows that pizza delivery is a kissing cousin to leisure and entertainment. The company's past promotions bear that out as the company has done everything from include free DVDs with orders to teaming up with Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) in offering up free digital downloads.
While some of the challenges may be new to Travis -- I bet the movie rental business never had to deal with dairy price fluctuations or ferreting out new dipping sauce candidates -- the competitive pressures that Blockbuster has faced in staring down the online threat of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and the future of digital delivery will make battling it out with Domino's (NYSE:DPZ) and Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) seem like a walk in the dough-filled clouds.
Papa John's got a new topping, and I'm guessing it will do fine with its better ingredients.
- Will Travis have to live up to unrealistic expectations at Papa John's?
- What was the deal with those delicious downloads, anyway?
- Chat it up with other calorie counters in our Low Carb Way of Life discussion board.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz doesn't mind music or movies with his grub just as long as he never hears "make it a Papa John's night" as the new ad campaign. He does not own shares in any company mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
