With pizzerias forced to lay off staff amid COVID-19, employer tax rates likely to jump Over a three-week run spanning mid-March to early April, nearly 17 million Americans filed for unemployment – and it’s no secret the restaurant industry, home...

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish My grandpa would analyze the price of a can of soup down to the penny. He would then compare cans and shave off two cents between brands. I think that’s what comes from being raised during The Depression. The irony is he w...

You in a hurry? Then get going! The mission to create your new pizza shop is still in its infancy, but it’s about to take its first steps. You’ve found the right deal on a new building and used little to no money to buy it. Now, it’s pretty sim...

Pop quiz: What’s the first step to opening a new store? If you read Volume 1 in this series, you know it’s all about securing the right deal for the new location. You’ll also know the first two components to this are finding a restaurant owner ...

Lean and Mean — Ways to Reduce Costs Times will get tough. When your bank account is dwindling because revenue has decreased, the next task becomes cutting costs. It’s a decision riddled with failure points. The goal is to cut costs without s...

Here’s the ‘Deal’ Welcome to a new monthly column meant to walk you through the process of opening a new store, from bright idea to grand opening. Pretty soon, I’ll have done this six times in eight years — even if I can’t say I’ve done...

Great bar design mixes form and function Beautiful aesthetics have a very short shelf life, especially when it comes to the design of your bar. Complicated layouts, distracting elements, unorganized clutter or tight quarters will deter your customers...

A guide to understanding cheese prices Cheese. What’s pizza without it? Thirty-three percent less food cost for one thing. A pizzeria has two prime costs that must be controlled every day — labor cost and food cost. You probably understand the im...

Read carefully before signing on the dotted line Amid a mounting driver shortage and an increasingly competitive landscape, Papa John’s – that industry behemoth that long enjoyed a seemingly endless army of delivery drivers – has done what some...

Retirement requires setting a plan, saving and installing systems that promote growth Though most pizzeria owners hope they can at some point retire and soar into their golden years, many will remain grounded by the realities of funding a stable, com...

How operators can address rising labor costs Up, up and away. On July 1, 22 states and cities across the U.S. raised their minimum wages. New Jersey’s minimum wage soared from $8.85 an hour to $10. Chicago jumped from $12 to $13 and San Francisco c...

Frozen Pizza Goes Local “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.” Legendary Chinese military leader Sun Tzu doesn’t get quoted in a lot of pizza industry publications, but it’s entirely relevant given a trend I’ve noticed recently. ...