It was one of Australia’s most recognisable pizza chains, but this week Eagle Boys went into voluntary administration. So what went wrong?
Brisbane founder Tom Potter, who sold his stake in the business a decade ago, said seeing the company fold had been sad, but added: “[It] has come as no surprise to me.”
“If you’re not advertising and you haven’t got an offer that people are invigorated to buy from you … you become non-existent eventually,” he said.
Eagle Boys was the third biggest pizza chain in Australia.
Mr Potter started the business when he was 23, opening his first pizza shop in Albury, New South Wales in 1987.
He left high school aged 15 to take up an apprenticeship with Queensland business Defiance Flour Mills.
“The entire investment cash was $12,000 each for me and my mum,” he told 612 ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin.
“No-one was doing pizza in regional areas and the first Queensland store was in Rockhampton.
“People would line up and they loved it.
“And they loved that we were a business that delivered and were well structured price-wise.”
Why the name Eagle Boys?
The name of the company was inspired by Mr Potter’s favourite comic book.
“Disney had a comic called the Beagle Boys but I couldn’t use that due to copyright issues…