- 10 April, 2006 -

Pat Williamson believes the secret to true success is work-life balance. After 25 years on what he called the "corporate treadmill," Williamson purchased several CiCi's Pizza franchises, and now has a second career that is more fulfilling than the first. "I'm doing better financially than I was when I was in corporate America, and I can still golf, take my wife on vacations, and have time to enjoy my life," says Williamson. Williamson served for 15 years as COO of Pizza Hut before leaving when PepsiCo sold the brand. "When I left corporate America, I was only 47 years old?too young to retire," says Williamson. Looking for something to keep him intellectually challenged, Williamson and his partners decided to go into the franchise business. They now own seven CiCi's franchises, and will open two more before the end of the year. "I really appreciate the quality of life that being a franchisee gives me. I am always involved in the big picture strategy, but I can rely on my top-notch managers to handle the day-to-day operations of the stores," says Williamson. CiCi's provides solid support to their franchise operators, including a strong training program and on-going public relations efforts and marketing initiatives from the corporate marketing team. The team works with the franchisees to build restaurant sales through strategically sound, detailed local market media plans to effectively build awareness and communicate CiCi's brand message. The company's 11-week training program is required for franchise owners and ensures that the company's brand values, customer service levels and culture are consistently recreated in each market. Part of the training program incorporates the practice of having the franchise owner involved in a new store opening before opening their own restaurant. -more- Page 2?CiCi's Franchise Offers Career Change Opportunities to Baby Boomers "Three things attracted me about the CiCi's concept," says Williamson. "They have a dynamic corporate management team, a strong economic model, and proven, broad appeal. We've had great success in our stores, thanks to CiCi's support and our terrific people." Based in Coppell, Texas, CiCi's Pizza has 580 restaurants in 26 states, with 97% of the restaurants owned by franchisees. CiCi's strongly supports their franchisees, providing a training program and on-going public relations efforts and marketing initiatives. CiCi's corporate marketing team develops and administers advertising and sales programs designed to promote the collective success of all CiCi's restaurants. Industry professionals have taken notice of the brand's explosive growth and success. For the past two years, Nation's Restaurant News ranked CiCi's number one for sales and unit growth in the pizza chain category. StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide for entrepreneurs, ranked CiCi's as one of the top 25 highest-performing brands in the nation. Franchise Today ranked CiCi's Pizza in the top 200 of all franchise concepts. The concept has received numerous other honors including recognition from Corporate Research International for best customer service in 2005; a gold award from Restaurants & Institutions in its annual consumer choice in chains survey in the pizza category, and Pizza Enterprise Industry of the Year in 2004 by Pizza Marketing Quarterly magazine. For more information, visit www.cicispizza.com.

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