Posted on 05/30/2022 5:11:46 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
Many small businesses continue to struggle and now a growing number of pizza shops in the Grand Rapids area are closing.
Just over a year after Rico Nelson took over Franco’s Pizzeria on Alpine Avenue in Walker, he had to shut the store down. He’s far from the only one.
"Business usually takes a while to get your niche and get it figured out," Nelson said. "But it’s just so hard with the uncertainty of the future right now, you know?"
It’s the perfect storm facing small businesses right now: employee shortages, rising food and gas prices and supply chain issues.
Nelson needed four employees to run Franco’s Pizzeria, and he usually only had two. When he did find workers, many did not stick around long.
"They’ll come in and maybe work a day, then not show up the next day, call you at the end of the week and ask when payday is," Nelson said. "It gets to the point that you’re just throwing money away at hiring them ’cause they’re just gonna be gone anyhow."
It forced him to ask friends to help out around the shop.
"Old friends come around to help me out," Nelson said. "Guys that got full-time jobs. They’re just coming in. They’re just loyal."
Recently, Nelson has paid more in order to make pizza sauce, get meat and even flour.
"I never knew flour came from Ukraine and Russia," he said. "I didn’t really know that. I just knew that we ordered flour. And now that’s gone up to 30 bucks where it was 22."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Good points.
“Maybe, just maybe, he picked a bad location, etc.? +
Maybe, just maybe, you didn’t read the article.
Neighbor canceled his lease and built his own pizza/italian place.
He can’t even hire. Dudes fill out application for unemployment benefits and never show up for interview.
Living far from a pizza joint I started making my own. I use Delallo. (https://www.delallo.com/delallo-pizza-dough-kit-17-6-oz/) Kroger stores carry it. I make the dough in a bread machine, but have kneaded it by hand with equally good results. One bag makes enough dough for two 12” pizzas. I freeze one dough ball and it’s good for a week or two.
The pizza maker I use is made by Hamilton Beach and has a real “as seen on TV vibe” but works well and at less than $70 makes it a real bargain compared to the fancier ones. Sauce, cheese and toppings is a matter of taste.
Half the places have closed around here, and the other half are only open half the hours. There were a dozen 24/7 diners to chose from, now there are none. Most bars were open for lunch through 2:00 am, now they open for cocktail hour and close at midnight. Pizza places that were open until 12 or 1:00am are now open till 10 or 11. Super markets were open 24/7, now they close at 11. Most stores close at 9:00. It is bullshite that it is a lack of workers — if you pay them, they will come. It is a lack of customers. Most of the patrons can’t budget fast food. They’re buying ramen noodles and rice in bulk at the supermarkets.
That’s another thing about interviews. Most restaurants keep the 2-4 pm slot open because it’s less busy, and everyone learned about no-shows on interviews. You show up, show up from 2-4 pm. If not, business goes on..
I did, and he’s full of excuses. But he just bought the place he should’ve done enough research to know if sustainable even with an increase in cost. So my guess is the former owner dumped the place because it was going to fail, and this guy was just a sucker, and now is getting his five minutes in the news.
Hard to milk rabbits.
They keep hopping around, knocking over the tiny buckets.
Maybe, just maybe, that is a long-standing Free Republic tradition.
Something has changed. I have 4 kids and they all had a tough time as teens finding summer jobs (circa 2012-2020). Now my last teen—16 in 2022—is getting LOTS of offers and good pay at that.
The problem is that with a recession, the government may continue to spend money to get us out of it.
Labor evolves as robotics are being used more in the restaurant industry
Miso Robotics CEO Mike Bell joined Yahoo Finance Live on May 12 to discuss how they’re integrating robots into the fast food industry to take care of the more undesirable jobs.
YAHOO!Finance10d
I was about to put in a link to that. Still will. Excellent resource.
https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php
and that is why it needs to be worse than a recession. Paying people more money for a job that is not worth that level of pay makes people lazy and uninspired to do better.
“if you pay them, they will come.”
Exactly - basic supply and demand.
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