Worst year EVER 2010!!!!

[PelletierBears]

another deal that I loved when we ordered pizza is you could call on a certain day let's say at 5pm and you get the pizza for the price of the hour so $5 then 6:15pm you pay $6.15

First OP, I'm so sorry for the loss of your parents I lost my Dad a few years ago so understand your pain but can't imagine having lost my Mom as well.

In regard to the above post that I quoted...we have a place in our town that offers this deal and let me tell you the place is absolutely PACKED on Monday nights. In fact today is Monday and guess what we had for dinner...yes, a $5 pizza! The deal is the only reason I buy on Mondays. Everyone in town seems to order pizza on Mondays now. They also offer a similar deal with their pasta meals.

I would say try a deal like this...put signs outside your business and in the local paper and see what happens. In this economy people are looking for deals but do still want take out / dine out.

Good luck!

 

[PelletierBears]

Sounds like a good deal for the customer, but if someone called at 1pm? Selling a pizza for $1 would be a huge loss for the business. If we are already struggling, that kind of offer would definitely put us in the grave.
Thanks for the suggestion though...........

The deal at the place near me starts at 4pm and runs until 9pm
so if you call at 4:03pm the pizza costs $4.03...toppings are $1 extra (each type).

 

[Lisa_M]

Yes my poor parents were only 63 & 64. My Dad had dementia and was ready to go. It was a long few years of him just detiorating. Mom and him have been divorced many years so one had nothing to do with the other. Mom died suddenly of a ruptured aneurysm, less than 2 weeks after my Dad died. It was an enormous shock and I still cannot believe it.

I LOVE the idea of offering a certian % to a school. That is an awesome idea especially if the school will send flyers home to every parent. I'll have to check into that!
We do have a Costco in town and my husband has mentioned a "take & bake" pizza but that would require more refrigeration equipment and space.
Thanks for your advice.

If you have school-age kids, I would check with their school first. We have several parents at our school that own restaurants and we make it a point to do a big group lunch order every month.

Bringing in a couple of pizzas for the staff sliced small with a bunch of menus and coupons would be a great way to drum up some new business. Especially if you offer delivery and/or the pizzeria is near the school.

What size pizza were they offering????

The places that we have seen do this it's from 5-9pm and it's a cheese only with toppings extra at regular price. I think they can afford to do this because the crust is thin.

 

[OceanAnnie]

LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! Not sure it will bring in "new" customers but I sure would like to thank an existing customer. Going to dig out my fish bowl now!

Glad you like it.

I'm thinking people bring friends/family with them to eat often. Meet people to discuss business. One person getting a freebie could bring in one or two friends. And the word spreads.

 

[lukenick1]

First OP, I'm so sorry for the loss of your parents I lost my Dad a few years ago so understand your pain but can't imagine having lost my Mom as well.

In regard to the above post that I quoted...we have a place in our town that offers this deal and let me tell you the place is absolutely PACKED on Monday nights. In fact today is Monday and guess what we had for dinner...yes, a $5 pizza! The deal is the only reason I buy on Mondays. Everyone in town seems to order pizza on Mondays now. They also offer a similar deal with their pasta meals.

I would say try a deal like this...put signs outside your business and in the local paper and see what happens. In this economy people are looking for deals but do still want take out / dine out.

Good luck!

I'm also sorry for you loss. Thats the exact thing I said to my Mom after my Dad died. I told her I didn't know what I would do if something happened to her and one week later....she was gone

About the pizza deal you are speaking of.....my dh (the pessimist) would say "we will get all of our regulars to come on that specific day for the bargain and then be dead the rest of the week".

 

[APB513]

lukenick1 -

So sorry to hear about the loss of your parents I agree that 2010 has been a crappy year. I am hoping that 2011 will be a better year for everyone.

You have gotten some great suggestions. Gotta love DISers!! I second the Groupon suggestion. It's a great way to introduce your pizza shop to lots of new people.

I hope things turn around for you and your family soon!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Have you thought about honoring competitor coupons? Publix does this and as a result I rarely shop elsewhere. I probably spend more on a lot of items because I'm only shopping at Publix, but by taking competitor coupons they make my life easier and have earned my loyalty. Maybe it would be a way to introduce your pizza shop to new clients who might then become regulars.

 

[lukenick1]

Have you thought about honoring competitor coupons? Publix does this and as a result I rarely shop elsewhere. I probably spend more on a lot of items because I'm only shopping at Publix, but by taking competitor coupons they make my life easier and have earned my loyalty. Maybe it would be a way to introduce your pizza shop to new clients who might then become regulars.

I do like that idea, however, we won't always be comparing apples to apples. If we took Domino's coupons, their pizzas are much smaller than ours and of course the "quality" just isn't there. I think it would be wiser to look at competitors coupons to get ideas of what we should offer for a coupon. I like the "family deal". We are going to be making some changes soon to better the business. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

 

[mychicks]

I'm sorry for your losses. My mom died of an aneurysm also.

Check with your local schools' PTOs. We run movie nights and other events for the kids at school and always get our pizza from the same restaurant. They give us a deal on the pizzas (we ordered 25 pizzas for our last event) We tried another restaurant one time last year because they offered a cheaper price, but the quality wasn't as good and we went back to the 1st place. They do a lot with our schools, even offer field trips to see how they make pizza, kids get to make their own I believe.

Schools in your area might do similar events for the kids or provide lunch for the staff during the year. You could find out when their PTO meetings are and provide some pizza for them to sample.

Send in menus for the teachers' rooms for days they order lunch. Also if you can start delivery early enough because around here, lunches start at 10:45am! Anywhere that is open early and will deliver early is a big plus!

The restaurants around us offer the pay the price at the time you call also. Think it starts at 4pm.

 

[barbarabini]

Contact the pto's in the schools around you. Maybe you can do the Friday lunch there. You make some money by supplying so many pies, it gives name recognition and the PTO makes some money by selling it to the kids for 2.50 a slice.

They do it every friday here. Times 6 grammar schools. Now thats a lot of pizza.

You can also include coupons to the PTO to get them to order the Friday night pizza.

Also, maybe contact the churches during lent - and give them meatless friday lenten coupons.