Topics
Operations
2011 August: SERVING EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
When a gas station stops letting customers use the restrooms because some people use them without making a purchase, or when a grocery store refuses to accept responsibility for mistakenly selling spoiled food, they lose business and create negative ...
Topics
Operations
2011 August: Turn the Page
When the hostess stand at Buddy’s Pizza becomes mobbed with hungry customers, the hostess hands out pagers shaped like coasters. That seems to calm everyone down, says Wes Pikula, vice president of operations for the nine-location Detroit pizze...
Topics
Menu Development
Clam Bake
What does it take to make the best clam pizza in the world? To answer that, I would say this: you start with a Neapolitan-style pizza crust, then you add freshly shucked littleneck clams, garlic, olive oil, oregano and a light shower of grated Parmes...
Topics
Employee Management
2011 July: COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
Soda is a serious moneymaker, especially in the pizza world. And fountain sodas, especially, can help keep your business in the black, namely because you don’t have to pay the extra for cans and bottles. Like many owners, Nick Merlino of Goomba...
Topics
Menu Development
2011 July: Dough Doctor
I’ve heard that there is a way to calculate the amount of dough needed to make any size of pizza. Can you explain how this is done? A: What you are referring to is the use of our old friend “pi” to calculate the surface area of a ci...
Topics
Menu Development
2011 July: FABULOUS FETA
Aged a minimum of three months, feta is a brind curd cheese that’s renowned for its flavor and versatility. An all-star performer in Greek cuisine, the product crosses over nicely into the Italian realm. In fact, feta offers operators a variety...
Topics
Menu Development
2011 July: GREASED LIGHTING
For some folks, that layer of grease that drips down your arm as you eat a slice of pizza is welcomed. For others, it can be a major turn-off and a reason to go somewhere else for dinner. The challenge here is to create a healthier pizza by eliminati...
Topics
Menu Development
Desserts: Sweet Ending
We all love the sweet melodious sound of our cash register’s “cha-ching” as we make another sale, and I want to help you make that happen more often. Selling desserts is one easy way to accomplish that goal.Collectively we’ve tried it all, fr...
Topics
Menu Development
2011 June: Dough Doctor
My pizza dough gets too soft to hand toss after only two days in the cooler. What do I do? A: In reviewing your dough formula and management procedure, I see that your dough formula contains nearly 10 percent oil in addition to 60 percent water. This...
Topics
Employee Management
2011 June: Going Mobile
The U.S. has gone mobile. To be specific, wireless penetration in the U.S. reached 93 percent in 2010, according to the International Association of Wireless Telecommunications Industry (CTAI). Those are some serious numbers. And, the Mobile Marketin...
Topics
Employee Management
2011 June: IN IT TO WIN IT
Imagine your customers ordering their pizza not by the inch –– but by the pound. And the goal? Getting them to polish it off in-house for a chance at t-shirts and cash but best of all, glory. Such is the idea behind eating challenges popp...
Topics
Employee Management
2011 June: Man on the Street
I’ve been in a real rut lately. There are dozens of quality pizzerias in my area, but when my friends want to go out for a pie or two (or six) we end up at the same place every time. It isn’t even close to my apartment; I have to take the...