5 Buck Pizza receives help from E Center

Being on the lookout at all times for new restaurants, chain or homegrown, I had to find out about 5 Buck Pizza when I noticed it at 1585 West Broadway, where The Shoe Box used to be.

I suppose it would be enough to report on a new pizzeria, because I know readers here can’t get enough restaurant news, but there’s much more to the story than that. In addition to Idaho Falls, the Utah-based 5 Buck has locations in Blackfoot, Rexburg and Rigby. For its entry into the region, it received consulting help from the Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center in Rexburg, better known as the E Center.

The E Center, which takes students from BYU-Idaho and sets them up on projects with professional guidance, did a competitive analysis and marketing strategy for company owner Rick Hancock. “We wanted to see what our competition was doing and what we needed to do to improve our customer visits, what products somebody may want to try and how to get our name out there,” Hancock said, in an article in the E Center’s August newsletter.

The team, comprised of a lead intern and several senior-level business students, researched the local competition and compiled best practices for each of the companies, helping 5 Buck recognize its differentiation opportunities and potential market niches. The team identified market opportunities with social media and mobile applications, and performed a price analysis on different strategies.

Being in a hurry, I didn't have a chance to check it out, but I'm sure a diligent BizMojo Idaho reader will after reading this.

Here's a link to 5 Buck Pizza's Web page: http://5buckpizza.com/stores.html

And here's a link to the E Center: http://www.idahoecenter.org/idahoecenter/