“People like choices, especially vegetarians. “Whatever we have for other food, why not put it on a pizza?” Gold says. That’s why there are so many toppings 50 in all, including 30 freshcut vegetables and nearly a dozen sauces offered. When it comes to the menu, pizza accounts for 65 percent of sales. “What’s great about being an independent is we can change (prices) pretty quickly,” Gold adds. The company recently conducted a Web survey asking patrons to consider cost as a factor in their purchasing habits and found that customers are willing to pay more for a better product but at a fair, competitive price. We lowered our prices to get more customers because right now, even if they like you, they need a reason to order.” We try to do our menus in six-month increments, so between June and December, we’re counting on low cheese and fl our (costs). “It’s the first year I haven’t gone up in 16 years … our goal is to basically have more orders to keep the clientele coming in. “Last year was the first year (sales) were even,” Gold says. In light of the economy, Siecinski and Gold have made a move contrary to industry norm they actually lowered their menu prices. (They have to lease square footage in the building next door for offices and storage.) “It’s funny how much I learn just by being here.” Siecinski says they did have some growing pains initially including navigating a small kitchen and very little storage space. “It’s volatile, this business,” Gold says. Why so hands on? Over the years, the pair has faced many hurdles, including slow business and employee retention and training. “If I had to be in the store every day, it would be rough.” “That’s the benefi t of being a higher-volume store with good people,” Gold says. One or the other is typically in-house daily. Within the next six years, Siecinski and Gold had sold two of the stores and today run one high volume operation.
PIZZA SHUTTLE PIZZA HOW TO
We had experience running one, but I wasn’t a supervisor at Domino’s to learn how to run a store, so we learned on our own money. “We made money, but we were young and cocky,” Gold admits. The first Pizza Shuttle started with used equipment, and within 20 months Siecinski and Gold were up to three stores. And the great thing is that nobody knows about it,” Gold says. “We could have gone anywhere, but we really like this city. They looked at several markets before settling in Milwaukee.
Siecinski and Gold spent their formative years working at Primo’s Pizza in Detroit Gold was later employed by a Domino’s Pizza unit and when they began to kick around the idea of opening up their own shop, they realized that the Detroit market was over-saturated. We’re near a campus, we’re near downtown, you have people who graduated college who are making a little more money and they rent an apartment and have a lot of disposable income.”Īnd then there’s the experience of its owners. “It’s a lot of young people, a lot of professionals, but not many families. “I wouldn’t even be able to come here if I didn’t own my building,” he says. It’s just a block away from Lake Michigan and located in an eclectic neighborhood in what used to be the stables for the lakefront mansions.Īpartments have sprung up all around, and Gold says rent has skyrocketed in the area. Today’s Pizza Shuttle, located across the street from the original location, is perched between the downtown business district and nearby university campuses in Milwaukee’s lower East Side.
But beyond its obvious high profits, how has Pizza Shuttle managed to keep its success with just one store?įirst and foremost, the old saying that location is everything certainly sits well for the company, which began in just a 500-square-foot unit in 1985. And yes, owners and childhood friends Mark Gold and Louis Siecinski still have a heavy hand in the management of their pizzeria (when they’re not in-house they have a trusted team of hand-picked managers). Of course, you’re probably wondering how many stores they have to have to receive such an honor, and you’ll be blown away by the answer: one store, with sales of $5.6 million. This time around, it was with a greater purpose the company has been named Pizza Today’s Independent Pizzeria of the Year. It’s been six years since we last visited Pizza Shuttle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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