Pita Pit's National Conference 2011

This week was Pita Pit USA's 5th National Franchise Conference. The conference was held in Atlanta, GA from Tuesday, November 8th - Thursday, November 10th and was a lot of fun for everyone in attendance.

During the conference, Pita Pit had 2 guest speakers, keynote speaker Mark Scharenbroich and Nick Powills, CEO of No Limit Media Consulting. Pita Pit's corporate staff also recapped everything that occurred in 2011, including our participation in Dine Out for No Kid Hungry program and the Pulled Pork Pita and Black Bean Pita, and highlighted the exciting things to come in 2012.

There were a 120 people who attended this years conference, and this included our fellow franchisees in Canada, Korea and New Zealand! This provided us with a great opportunity to learn about each other and the difference's there are in running Pita Pit's in different countries.

During our Award Ceremony on Thursday night, we gave out two major awards:

1. Rookie of the Year
2. Franchisee of the Year

The winner of "Rookie of the Year" was a father and daughter team, Christy and Bob Whitkop of Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

The winners of "Franchisee of the Year" was a husband and wife team, Dennis and Laura Sallee of Vancouver, Washington for their outstanding embodiment of Pita Pit's ideals and hard work.

Pita Pit featured in Jacksonville Business Journal

Pita Pit was recently featured in an article in the Jacksonville Business Journal, entitled “Hungry times: 16 new restaurants at the Beaches” The article was composed from an interview with Christy Whitkop, who at just the age of 28 is opening the Pita Pit in Jacksonville Beach. The article discusses how Jacksonville Beach is seeing a lot of restaurants pop-up in the area, including the Pita Pit. A portion of the article is below and it can be read in its entirety by clicking here and becoming a subscriber.

Hungry times: 16 new restaurants at the Beaches

Christy Whitkop decided to open her first Pita Pit franchise in Jacksonville Beach after eating at one while visiting a friend in another state. She was impressed in part because it provided a healthier option than was otherwise available late at night.

Whitkop now owns one of 16 restaurants that have opened or will open so far this year in the Beaches area, which includes Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach. Retail real estate agents say the number of new restaurants in the area is a sharp contrast to both the number of restaurants ...

(Read More)

Pita Pit featured in Florida Times Union

Pita Pit was featured in an article in the Florida Times Union, entitled “Pita Pit Opens Thursday in Jacksonville Beach.” The article was composed from an in-person interview with Christy Whitkop, who at just the age of 28 is opening the restaurant in Jacksonville Beach. The article discusses Christy’s entrepreneur story, her expansion plans, the Pita Pit’s menu options and how she will connect with the local community, including delivery and social media. Click here to view the full article!

Pita Pit opens Thursday in Jacksonville Beach
by Gary Mills

It didn't take long for Christy Whitkop to realize one restaurant's closure was her opening to get into the restaurant business.

Days after Lubi's Hot Subs closed at 500 Third St. N. in Jacksonville Beach in March, construction crews were busy demolishing the interior of the restaurant, making way for Thursday's opening of The Pita Pit.

(Read More)