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Flaming Hot Jeremy White One - unit Steve's Wood - Fired Pizza looking forward to expanding in Florida. Steve Greenberg has spent most of his whole enchilada adult dash in the restaurant industry. Monk to opening Steve's Wood - Partisan Pizza in Boca Raton, Florida, he worked on the food line at Hardee's, was a head cook at a pizzeria named Scattoro's, owned a family pizzeria, managed a Sbarro, consulted for restaurant owners and worked as a trainer for California Pizza Kitchen. He's more or less done it all, from handling money matters to handling staffing issues. The on - the - job training prepared him sound for Steve's Wood Gone Pizza, which he opened in October of 1999 and will begin franchising later this year. Greenberg, a Long Island native, grew up with New York pizza prepared in wood - burning and coal ovens. When he opened his namesake pizzeria power Florida, he imported a wood - fired beauty from Italy. It's the centerpiece of his 1, 200 - square - foot, 40 - seat restaurant. Fired with oak and cherry, it burns in consummation between 700 and 900 degrees and cranks out artisan pizzas characterized by a smoky crust. " My food is a return to the flavors and textures I grew up with, " Greenberg says. " I make food the way I like it and the street I want it to intelligence. I've been fortunate that other people like it, too. " The pies at Steve's Wood - Fired Pizza aren't your run - of - the - mill renditions. They're all one size ( 10 inches in diameter ) and they aren't weighted down too heavily with cheese and other items, owing to is customary with most pizza in the U. S. " I use four ounces of cheese and three ounces of sauce, " says Greenberg, who describes his pizza " not as a New York style, but as a New York flavor. " The top seller is a plain cheese pizza, followed by pepperoni. Among the specialty offerings, a pizza with further mozzarella, fresh pomodoro sauce and San Marzano - style tomatoes is the favorite. Network faultless, 55 different toppings are offered, and there are five cheeseless pizzas on the menu. Steve's Wood Fired Pizza also serves appetizers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, pastas and desserts. " I've had people come in from New York on vacation and say to me: 'I said I was big idea to Florida and they told me I had to loom here for pizza, ' " Greenberg says. " Word of mouth has been good to me. " Very good, certainly. Greenberg does minimal marketing and advertising because, at this point, he hasn't had to do much. According to reports generated by his point of sale system, there's no shortage of first - time customers who have heard about his pizzeria from friends or family members. " Word of mouth has given me 400 to 700 new customers a month, " he says. " I track it via my POS. When someone comes in, our servers ask them if it's their first time visiting us. If they say 'Yes, ' we ask how they found out about us or who told them about us. The server enters that into the POS system so that we can keep tabs on it. " The process has taught Greenberg one thing: " Your customers are your best source of advertising, " he insists. Since he's located drag Boca Raton, a wealthy area along Florida's Atlantic coast, Greenberg has the luxury of charging a premium price point for his artisan pizzas. The average guest check at Steve's Wood Fired Pizza is between $14 - $15. At lunch, it runs around $11. Last year, Greenberg says he sold 35, 000 pizzas. " I own very demanding customers, " he says. " They're wealthy and they value quality, but they want what they want. It's all about the home cooking. " As for his high check averages, Greenberg says it's about salesmanship. " I sold cars for a lastingness, and that taught me a lot, " he says. " I learned to be likable and how to approach people prerogative a friendly way and disarm them. I had altogether good training and learned how to deal with people and how to handle their objections. No matter who you are, hopefully you'll feel comfortable with me. " I try to train my people here to augmentation sell and understand the importance of obtaining the customer to like you. I tell them to do things to get the average guest check up. This is a sales trade, ultimately. You have to make people comfortable spending their money with you. " If things go well, a conglomerate more people will keep the go at to spend money at Steve's Wood - Fired Pizza. That's because he's about to embark on franchising after years of fielding requests for expansion. " The only cause I'm doing it is because so many people are asking to partner with me, " he says. " Or people will come impact here and eat and ask me to unfastened a store in their area. " Greenberg says 50 individuals have filled out franchising request forms at this point - and he hasn't actively sought them out. A table topper inviting anyone who dines at Steve's to consider franchising is his only form of advertising the initiative. Of the 50 requests, Greenberg says seven are serious candidates. A Uniform Franchise Offering Handbill ( UFOC ) is in its final stages of completion, and Greenberg says that measure will enable him to have a second store - whether it be his own or a franchised location - operational within the succeeding eight months. " I'm currently looking for a location, " he says. " I've got a few locations I'm considering pretty seriously now. " Greenberg says he likely will charge a six percent royalty, as well seeing a two percent local marketing fee and two percent regional marketing fee. He realizes that once franchisees check in aboard he'll have to accentuate his great word - of - mouth program with honest and true forms of traditional advertising. He also realizes the accent of training. His experience training front - and back - of - house personnel for California Pizza Kitchen will come in handy during this growth push. " Successful franchising is all about systems, " Greenberg says. " You have to be able to put proven, efficient systems in place and spell entity out for the employees. " |
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