Kal Gullapalli, CEO of MPZ Holdings, operates dozens of Marco’s Pizza restaurants and recently became a franchisee of Dave’s Hot Chicken.
Back in high school, Kal Gullapalli asked himself a question while working at Little Caesars: Why can’t I own a hundred of these?
While he doesn’t own 100 pizza restaurants quite yet, he’s well on his way. Gullapalli is a multi-brand franchisee, with Marco’s Pizza being the biggest in his portfolio at 51 locations. His path from dreaming about being a multi-unit operator to actually becoming one took a detour through Wall Street.
After growing up in a Detroit suburb and graduating from the University of Michigan, Gullapalli went to New York City to work in the financial sector. He spent much of those seven and a half years at Merrill Lynch.
“In that eighth year, I realized I wanted to go off on my own,” Gullapalli said. “I bought some independent businesses, two butcher shops in Long Island. I learned how to operate as an owner and a leader, and then got into independent pizzerias and started my own burger joint.”
Though he loved owning the businesses and being a leader, he didn’t enjoy building brands. With that in mind, Gullapalli tried franchising, although the first venture wasn’t in the foodservice space.
“My first foray was with Orangetheory Fitness in 2016,” Gullapalli said. “We opened up two in the Boston area. It was a great brand and growing really fast, but the mistake I made was that I didn’t secure enough territory, so we could only open up two.”
Gullapalli sold those Orangetheory gyms and moved on to European Wax Center in 2018, this time defining the territory. He took on four underperforming units and turned them around before growing to 50 locations.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted Gullapalli to branch out to other industries, and that thought he had in high school came back into play. “During the pandemic, European Wax Center, although it’s recovered, struggled, especially in the Northeast,” Gullapalli said. “I learned what was doing really well was carryout delivery, and that’s when my interest in pizza jumped back in.”
Gullapalli said he wanted to select a brand with a large enough footprint that would allow him to quickly scale, both through buying and building.
Marco’s Pizza, which focuses on delivery and carryout, has more than 1,100 stores.
“I saw a really unique position for Marco’s,” Gullapalli said. “They had just hit that 1,000th store mark and were growing rapidly. They had an opportunity for me there to acquire existing units and find territories where I could open 10, 15 or 20 restaurants. That can be harder to do when a brand is closer to 3,000 or 4,000 units.”
He established MPZ Holdings in 2021 and acquired 15 existing Marco’s stores in South Carolina. The growth to 51 locations in four states has come through a mix of more acquisitions and new store openings. Gullapalli has since added Dave’s Hot Chicken to the MPZ lineup, signing on as a franchisee in 2022 and opening the first location in June 2023.
“Chicken is a really trending category to be in right now,” Gullapalli said. “I’ve loved Nashville hot chicken for a long time now, and Dave’s has turned that into a QSR with raving fans. These guys are doing really well per location, and the franchisees I’ve spoken to are happy, and the management team is one of the best I’ve seen.”
In addition to the two restaurant brands, Gullapalli has remained active in the health and beauty segments. He’s an owner and a board member in a franchise group that operates the European Wax Center locations. He also owns two VIO Med Spa locations, a concept that offers skin rejuvenation services, and one Restore Hyper Wellness unit, which provides treatments ranging from whole body cryotherapy and IV drips to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
“We’ll continue to grow,” Gullapalli said. “Where rates are right now, things are a bit prohibitive, so we’re not going to grow as fast, but it’s still going to happen. With Marco’s Pizza, we built five this year. We’re probably going to do between six and eight in 2024. With Dave’s Hot Chicken, I’m planning to build two or three a year in South Carolina where I have rights to. It’s all going to be new builds with Dave’s, there are no acquisitions available as a newer brand.”