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Employee Management
2011 December: The Singles Game
With three corporate pizza behemoths in her backyard — not to mention a dozen other independents, Jeannette Magaro, owner of Mia’s Nikoli’s Pizza in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, knows creative and strategic marketing is a must if her ei...
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Employee Management
Ask Big Dave: A Checklist to Cutting Costs
Dave, I need to trim costs considerably in just about every facet of my business. Where do I start? I can’t afford to cut quality of my product, I know, but I can’t afford not to make cuts everywhere else. Peter White San Diego, California ...
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Employee Management
2011 November: Man on the Street
Four years ago, I took a trip to Israel that changed my life. I didn’t have a profound religious experience as people sometimes do while visiting a place so rich in history, but I did begin to notice something that had never caught my eye befor...
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Employee Management
2011 November: Online & On Track
Call up the Web site owned by Vito’s Pizza and Beer in York, Pennsylvania, (www.vitospizzaandbeer.com) and immerse yourself in the ambiance of a family-owned, honest- to-goodness, Italian-American restaurant. You can almost hear “mangia!&...
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Employee Management
WITHOUT A HITCH
Imagine this scenario: You’ve just launched a series of four pesto-inspired pizzas. To promote your new menu items, you gear up for a one-day promotional event, practically giving away the pizzas. You’ve advertised the heck out of the promo and e...
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Employee Management
2011 September: SOCIAL HOUR
When Facebook was first introduced, the site was the online version of the Wild West, devoted primarily for collegiate use and of little consequence to a young suburban mother like myself. Fast forward a couple of years, and just about everyone I kno...
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Employee Management
2011 July: COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
Soda is a serious moneymaker, especially in the pizza world. And fountain sodas, especially, can help keep your business in the black, namely because you don’t have to pay the extra for cans and bottles. Like many owners, Nick Merlino of Goomba...
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Employee Management
2011 June: Man on the Street
I’ve been in a real rut lately. There are dozens of quality pizzerias in my area, but when my friends want to go out for a pie or two (or six) we end up at the same place every time. It isn’t even close to my apartment; I have to take the...
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Employee Management
2011 June: Theft Deterrent
No one likes to think about it, but employees do steal from their employers. The SBA reported that 10 percent of businesses filing bankruptcy cited employee theft or fraud as major causes. Pizzeria operators have two options: ignore the possibility o...
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Employee Management
2011 June: Going Mobile
The U.S. has gone mobile. To be specific, wireless penetration in the U.S. reached 93 percent in 2010, according to the International Association of Wireless Telecommunications Industry (CTAI). Those are some serious numbers. And, the Mobile Marketin...
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Employee Management
2011 June: IN IT TO WIN IT
Imagine your customers ordering their pizza not by the inch –– but by the pound. And the goal? Getting them to polish it off in-house for a chance at t-shirts and cash but best of all, glory. Such is the idea behind eating challenges popp...
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Employee Management
2011 May: Payday
Chuck Wilburn was already a veteran Shakey’s Pizza Parlor operator when he watched a new restaurant open across the street from his Redlands, California, store several years ago. The restaurant was good, and the business flourished quickly. But...