A little more than one month ago, Laurel had zero restaurants that filled the growing niche of fast casual, build-your-own pizza.
But starting last week, Laurel now boasts two of the fastest growing companies in the sector: Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza and Pie Five Pizza.
Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza opened the doors on its third Maryland location Dec. 18 at the newly minted, $130 million Towne Centre at Laurel. Pie Five wasn't far behind, opening the doors of its third Maryland location Jan. 16 at the Laurel Shopping Center off Route 1.
While the two businesses are competitors in the industry, there is one thing they seem to agree on: the market is starved.
"There is this big gap in the pizza space," said Alyse Cohen, owner of the Pie Five in Laurel. "You have your Domino's, Papa John's of the world that deliver; they are inexpensive, can feed a party, and that's their niche. And you have your small mom and pop upscale players, and nothing in between. ... That's where we come in."
"If you think about it, there hasn't been a good way to enjoy a made-from-scratch pizza without the wait," Jim Mizes, president & COO of Blaze Pizza, said in a news release. "Now there is. We believe this will be a game changer in town."
Both pizza joints are alternatives to the traditional delivery options, the by-the-slice pizza joints and the table-service pizza restaurants. Their goal is to deliver table-service, artisanal quality pizza at reasonable price and in the fast-casual setting made popular by Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Both employ the build-your-own model, made popular by Subway, and deliver their 11-inch, personal pizzas to diners in their restaurant in minutes – Blaze says they can deliver theirs in three minutes, while Pie Five advertises delivery in five minutes or less.
Both offer a variety of options of doughs, sauces, vegetables, meats and cheeses. And they both also offer signature pizzas, which can also be customized, for customers looking for something a bit less adventurous.
"We offer signature pies because those flavor profiles we come up with that work, that are delicious," said Cohen. "If you're not an expert, you want a little guidance, you can add and subtract your ingredients the way you like."
She added that, at Pie Five, the majority of pizzas are customized because "people know their favorites."
Both have plans to expand their coverage quickly. Blaze Pizza announced last week plans to expand to Canada and currently has agreements in place to open a total of 331 restaurants in the United States, according to its website. One of those sites will be the fourth Maryland location, which is set to open at the Annapolis Mall in late 2015.
Pie Five has agreements to open 270 franchises in the United States. That includes a huge expansion in the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia area, which will be orchestrated by Cohen.
Cohen said she plans to open two other locations in 2015 and five more in 2016. She said Laurel was a good place for one of her first locations because of its proximity to Route 1, as well as the redevelopment slated for the area.
"You have a lot of big developers coming in and working with this area to redevelop some of the rundown bits," she said. "It's a great thing for the community here, and we wanted to be a part of that revitalization."