Posted on 03/04/2016 8:31:06 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie
Technology is killing off independent pizzerias in the United States at the rate of roughly 2,549 locations per year (in 2015 alone). The pizza category is being reshaped by both big new tech deployed by chains and fresh threats from sophisticated emerging brands that are taking slices of the pie from tens of thousands of ill-equipped and low-tech independent pizzerias.
(Excerpt) Read more at linkedin.com ...
Wonder how much obamacare has to do with it.
It’s not technology, it’s people not caring that the box tastes better than the chain pizza in it. A good independent pizza place runs rings around Dominos et al.
The mark-up on pizza vs. the cost breakdown of ingredients was pretty amazing, at least from what a pizza joint owner once told me.
Freegards
What is growing in Southern California are Blaze Pizza and Pieology Pizza. Build your own pizza, one size, ready in 5 minutes.
Blaze makes the best pepperoni pizza I’ve had in many, many years.
If I add the national chains (Domino's, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut) and the local chains (Giordano's, Connies...) I come up with at least ten and I've probably missed one or two. All within a five minute drive and I don't live in a major metropolitan area. The village in which I live is just about 25,000 people.
Here in New York, where people take pizza seriously, it seems the Indy’s are holding their own. Not too many Dominos or Papa Johns can be seen.
Do you also get to make your own pie? Now that would take off!
My great uncle and aunt owned and operated a pizzeria in Utica, MI. When you walked in the door the smell was heavenly. They used to have a deal on Wednesdays- Get a medium with cheese and pepperoni for 99 cents! The mozzarella cheese they used was rich and creamy and the pepperoni was lean, spicy and sliced medium thick..The crust was light and thin, the sauce was tangy, fresh and ‘tomatoey’. That was the late ‘60’s. They sold it in the mid ‘80s and retired comfortably, sent their two daughters to engineering college (GMI) and lived well into their 70’s. When the girls were younger, they would sometimes sit down at the organ they had in the waiting area to play some music from “the old country”...He was also a WWII veteran who fought with the U.S. Marines in Italy.
The article didn’t seem to make the case for independent chains dying off. They only said corporate chains grew.
My personal observation is that there are loads of independent pizza joints. Many are probably not categorized as pizza restaurants as they serve many other dishes so they are probably not included in the numbers given.
I have more than a dozen places that serve pizza as a primary menu item in my little town. I live near a really small town of 250 people and it has two places that serve really good pies.
You're correct though that the ingredients are (likely) the cheapest components of making the pizza.
It's like going to an italian restaurant: never order the Pasta special. That's their highest markup item. Noodles (in any form) are incredibly cheap. Talk about markup!
There is a threshold to how much the average Joe will pay for a pizza. It’s all about the $$$, not the taste.
“lousy pizzas in the West and Midwest”
People like to say that, but I doubt you’ve been to all that many places here out west. I’ve had New York pies and they aren’t any different than what we have out here.
I like to watch the Diner, Dives, and Drive-ins show. He shows that great pizza is found all over the country, even out here in the west.
Health department issues, Poppie got sloppy.
The article stated that over 2,500 independent pizzerias closed last year. Examples may differ in your area, but this article maintains that local pizza joints are facing stiff competition from the big boys and smaller, higher end crafted pizza type outlets. I believe this is true for every kind of retail operation, be it a decor store, a hobby store, clothier, etc.
Cone on, haven’t you seen that old cover of the New Yorker, where everything west of the Hudson is a wasteland? Ain’t nuttin’ good out west!
“2,500 independent pizzerias closed last year”
And how many opened?? None closed in my area. In fact, a few more have opened recently.
Folks who say that to me usually begin by asking, “Have you ever tried Round Table?”
“Ain’t nuttin’ good out west!”
We like to keep the New Yorkers thinking that.
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