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.
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.
There is a threshold to how much the average Joe will pay for a pizza. It’s all about the $$$, not the taste.
We must have a government program to solve this crisis. Obamapizza. Everyone will be required, by law, to buy pizza whether they want it or not.
Also take-and-bake pizzas like Papa Murphy's.
When I want a fast food pizza, Papa Johns is decent. Problem is you almost need an instruction manual to order on-line, and get a decent couponed deal. I think they need to fire whoever built their ordering system.
The mom & pop pizza places aren’t disappearing where I live. I have a few within ten miles in my small town and the two I frequent are always busy, have high quality product and reasonable prices (which is unusual for Massachusetts).
I have a little pizza oven and would make my own (or buy frozen like Uno and customize them with my own spices/toppings) before going to a national chain.
Another I miss the food from upstate NY moment.... Lots of family run pizza shops, Italian families. More often than not you could also get a decent submarine sandwich (meatball), or big plate of baked ziti, maybe some gnocchi...
The owner was usually the guy in an apron with flour and sauce stains on it - and he makes sure your pie is hot and delicious.