Blackjack Pizza

History

Vince Schmuhl, while a student at the University of Northern Colorado, worked as a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza. After earning a business degree in 1981, he found few jobs available and sought to offer another option to the major pizza companies. His parents, Jim and Wilma Schmuhl, provided $10,000 in exchange for equity to start the business. Schmuhl named the restaurant after the game blackjack to signal it was fast food, drawing a parallel to Domino's Pizza through the game theme; the slogan was "Finally, there's a new game in town."

The first Blackjack Pizza store opened on June 29, 1983, in Federal Heights, and a second store opened in Greeley by February 1984. By 1986, the chain had grown to six corporate stores and one franchisee. In 1988, Blackjack began franchising by selling several corporate stores to franchisees, eventually operating 45 stores across five states. The company headquarters, by 1999, was located in the Castlewood census-designated place in unincorporated Arapahoe County, Colorado, near Englewood; that territory later became part of Centennial when it incorporated in 2001.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, worked at the Blackjack Pizza store in Littleton, Colorado, where Harris became shift manager. Through a fellow employee, Philip Duran, they met Mark Manes, who sold them the TEC-9 used in the attack. Denver Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith appeared in Blackjack commercials until October 2008, when a new campaign featuring the cast of Impulse Theater replaced them; Smith's slogan was "Stick with the home team."

Philanthropy

Blackjack Pizza has contributed to several organizations. In 2005, the chain donated $8,842.40 to the Bonfils Blood Center Foundation as the winner of the "80 Cent Pizza Promotion." It also sponsored a Future Farmers of America program in Fort Morgan, Colorado. In 2006, the franchise offered a deal where each order of the "Children's Hospital Special" resulted in a one-dollar donation to the Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.