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Making It MOD
Eastside entrepreneurs create a family business
BY DANA E. NEUTS // PHOTOS BY RACHEL COWARD
O
nce upon a time, there was a Northwest couple living in London who yearned for something simple and oh-so Seattle — a good cup of coffee. They reached out to Starbucks,
urging the company to hop the pond and set up shop. When their call went unanswered in
the 1990s, the newly married couple started their own coffee company.
Scott and Ally Svenson, Bellevue High School sweethearts, started the Seattle Coffee Company
with one location. He a Harvard grad and she a Wellesey grad, both had prior career experience after
college — but nothing in coffee or retail. But they saw an opportunity — and went for it with gusto.
Within two years their coffee business had grown to 68 locations in the United Kingdom. Wanting
a springboard into Europe, Starbucks approached the Svensons to buy the business, and they agreed to
sell, and Scott stayed on as the president of Starbucks Europe in the beginning.
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From left: Dillon,
Caspian, Scott,
Ally, Tristan, and
Jasper Svenson
Their careers and life paths continued to evolve through identifying more gaps.
They helped found Carluccio’s Ltd.,
an Italian restaurant in the U.K., before
returning to Medina with their two
sons, Tristan and Dillon, in 2000. Soon
after two more sons were born, Caspian and Jasper. The family was busy
shuttling the boys from one event or
game practice to another. It was tough
to find time for a fast, affordable and
healthy meal for their family on the go.
Surely other families were feeling the
same way.
And of course, a new business idea
was born — MOD Pizza, a fast-casual pizza company headquartered in
Bellevue. From a consumer standpoint,
MOD operates sort of like a Subway
sandwich shop. Pizza is made on
demand — the guest chooses the toppings. It’s fresh and fast, and there are
healthy options like fresh veggie pies.
“Pizza is the second-biggest food
industry in the U.S., but there had been
no innovation to pizza in many years,”
Scott said. Though they had been
successful entrepreneurs twice, they
weren’t sure they could continue their
winning streak, but there was a need
for a pizza alternative. So the Svensons
didn’t let a healthy dose of skepticism
stop them. They opened their first shop
on Sixth Avenue and Union Street in
downtown Seattle in 2008.
The couple said they brought what
they loved about London back home
when creating MOD. “There was a
certain vibe, energy, and attitude that
came from the U.K. in the 1950s and
1960s,” Scott, a self-professed Hooligan,
said. “We wanted to borrow some of that
energy for MOD.”
The first store was a testing ground,
helping the couple figure out if the fast
casual pizza concept could work, especially as the economy hurdled toward
a full-blown recession. “We asked
ourselves, ‘How low can we go?’” Ally
explained. “It was important to us that
there was that combination of customers
coming in because the price point was
accessible at a scary time, but also we
were hiring people and doing our best to
pay as much as we possibly could.”
In 2009, the couple opened three
more stores — University District,
Bellevue, and Capitol Hill. The latter
eventually closed, but Bellevue and University District succeeded. “Those first
few stores were definitely our laboratories,” said Ally. After opening four locations, Scott and Ally felt like they really
understood the restaurant’s concept,
operations, and customers. Based on that
knowledge, they opened stores in a more
targeted way. Their next stores were
Alderwood, Redmond, and Sammamish,
along with a real estate division.
The business that was inspired by
their busy family is truly a family affair
in more ways than one. They even have
pizzas named after all of the boys — and
other people who have inspired them —
and have a taste for pizza worth sharing.
MOD also serves salad, garlic strips,
milkshakes, draft beer, and wine. At
MOD, one price covers as many toppings
as you’d like — and people appreciate it.
Philip White of Ballard was
introduced to MOD Pizza by his 12-yearold son and calls MOD Pizza “good pizza
with attitude.” He and his family go to
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MOD once or twice a week. His favorite
is the Calexico pizza with jalapeños
and grilled chicken. “The people are
very engaging,” White said. “I like the
atmosphere.”
You’d think starting and growing successful businesses and raising
four boys would keep the Svensons’
plates more than full. But getting more
involved in the Eastside community —
where they met and MOD is headquartered — became increasingly important.
The Svensons co-chaired Hopelink ’s
annual luncheon, and that nonprofit
experience helped put things into
perspective. “Ally and I looked at each
other and said building just a retail
business is not something that’s going
to fill our soul for the rest of our
professional career,” Scott said. They
wanted to take their success and have a
positive impact on others.
From that point forward, the
Svensons made MOD more about the
people than the pizza. Sure, the pizza is
critical to their success — and they were
thrilled with the quality of their product
— but they wanted to give people the
opportunity to improve their lives.
“We want to be a role model and
a force for good,” Ally added. Part of
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that was changing the perception of the
service industry. The Svensons wanted
employees to be proud of their jobs and
look forward to going to work. They call
their employees MOD Squaders, and
they pay them a living wage and are big
on offering second chances to people
looking for a good job.
Each MOD Squad employee is
unique, and has a story to tell. Here’s
the story of one member of the MOD
Squad: “Today I feel like my life has
meaning and purpose, and I want you
guys to know that you gave me that. A
little over two and a half years ago, when
I first came into MOD, I was just trying
to figure out how to exist, to simply pay
rent, keep food in my stomach, and keep
clothes on my back, and you gave me
that … I want you to know that my existence has so much more meaning today.”
In addition to helping their staff,
they’ve given their employees two
ways to help their communities. On
each store’s opening day, the store
gives 100 percent of its first-day
sales to a local nonprofit, selected by
employees at that location.
For example, at the Overlake store’s
grand opening in July, the MOD Squad
donated $3,512 to Jubilee Reach to help
with the Highland STEAM (science,
technology, engineering, arts, and
math) program. The Redmond Ridge
location donated $5,324 to the Little Bit
Therapeutic Riding Center to provide
equine-assisted therapy to children and
adults with disabilities. Each year at
Thanksgiving, the MOD Squad does a
program called Spreading MODness.
During Thanksgiving week, MOD
donates $1 from each pizza sold in
MOD stores across the country. Last
year, 31 stores participated, donating
nearly $38,000 to community programs.
Locally, stores donated to Redmond
Hopelink, Issaquah Food and Clothing
Bank, and Maple Valley Food Bank and
Emergency Services.
“Our real purpose is making a
difference in the lives of the people who
join us on this journey,” Scott said. FIND MOD There MOD Pizza
locations across the nation.
MOD recently announced
it also will be available in
the United Kingdom soon.
modpizza.com