Marco's Pizza will stage a one-day, single-location pop-up shop in Orlando on May 26, selling slices for $1 to mark the commercial launch of its new NY Style Pizza — a product the chain is positioning as a direct appeal to the roughly 4.8 million former New York City residents now living in Florida, the top destination state for NYC outmigration.
The pop-up, held at one Orlando-area Marco's unit, is designed as a high-visibility launch event rather than a permanent pricing initiative. The $1 slice price point mirrors the longstanding street-level benchmark that defines New York City pizza culture, giving the chain a culturally resonant hook to generate earned media and trial for the new SKU. The event will feature an appearance by God Shammgod, the Orlando basketball coach and New York streetball legend whose name carries strong recognition among the target demographic.
The NY Style Pizza launch represents Marco's latest effort to extend its menu footprint in a highly competitive fast-casual pizza segment, where operators including Domino's, Papa John's, and regional independents are all competing for share of the estimated $46 billion U.S. pizza market. Regional-style pizzas — New York, Detroit, Sicilian — have emerged as one of the more durable product differentiation levers for national chains seeking to command incremental ticket or attract lapsed users. For more on how regional pizza styles are reshaping chain menus, see our earlier coverage at /consumer-trends/regional-pizza-styles-reshape-chain-menus.
Marco's, which operates more than 1,100 locations across the United States, has been expanding its Florida presence as population growth in the Sun Belt continues to outpace national averages. The Orlando market is particularly strategic: the metro area has absorbed a disproportionate share of New York and Northeast transplants over the past five years, creating a consumer base predisposed to nostalgia-driven food marketing. Franchise economics in high-traffic Florida corridors have also attracted operator interest, a dynamic covered in depth at /franchising/sun-belt-pizza-franchise-growth.
The company has not disclosed incremental capital expenditure tied to the NY Style launch or provided same-store sales guidance linked to the new menu item. Whether the $1 price point will extend beyond the promotional event, or whether the pop-up format will be replicated in other high-transplant markets such as Miami, Tampa, or Phoenix, also remains unannounced. As Food & Beverage Magazine noted in its broader coverage of the brand, Marco's has increasingly leaned on limited-time and regional storytelling to drive franchisee enthusiasm and consumer awareness without broad media-spend commitments.
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.
