A family-led ownership group has signed a three-unit franchise development agreement with Marco's Pizza in Columbia, Missouri, with the first location scheduled to open in October 2026 at 911 Rain Forest Pkwy. The deal brings co-owners Russ Anderson and Betzayda "Betzy" Alvarez-Anderson into the brand alongside Klayton Anderson, who will serve as operator.
The Ownership Group
The partnership combines deep regional business roots with direct pizza-industry experience — a combination that shapes how the group will approach back-of-house buildouts and day-to-day kitchen operations. Russ Anderson is the founder of Anderson Homes, the largest homebuilder in central Missouri, giving the group in-house capability in real estate and construction — a meaningful asset when building out commercial kitchen spaces rather than inheriting existing tenant improvements. Betzy Alvarez-Anderson spent nine years with a national pizza brand, advancing from in-store roles to general manager before moving into a corporate position. Klayton Anderson built multi-unit operations experience as a general manager in the pizza segment before joining the Marco's development team.
Betzy pointed to Marco's in-store production model as a key differentiator: dough pressed in-house daily and a three-cheese blend that's always fresh, never frozen. For operators specifying kitchen equipment, that prep-forward model demands adequate dough-handling and cold-storage capacity at each location — a consideration as the group plans its build specifications across all three units.
Build Strategy and Market Fit
The group's development approach favors owning or building its sites rather than leasing, reflecting a long-term capital commitment to mid-Missouri. That ownership posture gives the operators greater control over kitchen layout, equipment selection, and future retrofits — a meaningful distinction from typical quick-service buildouts where landlord constraints can limit equipment choices. With only a limited Marco's footprint currently in Missouri, the partners identified Columbia as an underserved market with room for a multi-unit presence.
For foodservice consultants and equipment dealers active in the mid-Missouri corridor, the three-unit pipeline represents a concrete near-term opportunity: three ground-up or owner-occupied commercial kitchen buildouts, each requiring a full equipment fleet covering dough prep, make-line refrigeration, deck or conveyor ovens, and ventilation. Operators replacing legacy or generic QSR equipment configurations with a brand-spec'd Marco's kitchen should note the chain's emphasis on daily fresh prep, which typically requires dedicated refrigerated prep tables and proofing capacity beyond what a simpler reheating-oriented concept would need. Dealers tracking pizza-segment equipment trends and cold-storage specifications in franchise rollouts will find the Anderson group's build-to-own model worth watching as a template.
Marco's is supporting the expansion with its Franchise Development Royalty Incentive Program, which offers early-stage royalty rates starting at 0% for qualified multi-unit developers. The brand's Franchise Disclosure Document reports $1.28M average unit volume for the top 25% of franchised stores in 2025, based on 997 franchised stores open for the full 52-week fiscal year. The first Columbia location is on track for an October 2026 opening, with the remaining two units to follow under the development timeline.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
