Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Pizza pie before pumpkin pie
Night before turkey day brings booming business to pizza makers, with sales up 35% to 200%.
Thanksgiving may be turkey day, but Wednesday is pizza night.
Today is one of the biggest sales days of the year for home-delivered and takeout pizza, generating $35 million in extra pre-Thanksgiving business.
Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza has declared itself "the official pizza of Thanksgiving Eve," and says sales will rise 68 percent over a regular Wednesday.
"We plan to deliver 1.1 million pizzas (today)," Domino's spokeswoman Stacey Bednarski said. "We double up on food, we increase the staffing in the store. We're really prepped for this big day of ours."
And a big day it is, for both delivery and carryout pizza sellers. Pizza is a $37 billion annual business in the United States, with more than 65,000 pizza joints. Each one will see an average boost of anywhere from 35 percent to 200 percent, said Pizza Today Editor in Chief Jeremy White.
"It's one of the five biggest days of the year for pizzeria owners," said White, ranking with Halloween, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and the biggest slice of yearly business -- Super Bowl Sunday.
Extra sales will be good news to Domino's, since its stock continues to slide after the company reported a 55 percent drop in third-quarter profits.
But tonight the phones will be ringing wherever pizza is tossed.
The complexity of facing Martha Stewart's stuffing recipe and their mother-in-law's opprobrium is enough to get most cooks craving not spiced yams, but simple convenience.
"You know that Thursday you're going to have this huge feast with food that just keeps going and going, so Wednesday night it's just nice to pick up the phone," said Bednarski of Domino's. "People don't even have dishes because they're all filled up with the turkey and stuffing for the next day."
As cooks dive elbow-deep in the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal that borders on a medieval feast in its complexity and scale, they'll decide tonight's dinner is best left to the delivery man.
"They don't want to take the time," said White of Pizza Today, "and they don't have anywhere to cook because they're already using the stovetop and the oven."
Day starts early at pizzerias
So that cooks can chop, mince, sauté and simmer tonight, pizzeria owners will rise early this morning. They all agree that they'll make a lot of dough -- but first they'll make a lot of dough.
"Usually we come to work at 9 (a.m.) to start making dough, but (today) we're here at 4 or 5 in the morning," said Jet's America President Eugene Jetts. "We'll hit record numbers (today)."
Workers at the Sterling Heights-based chain don't take off early to go over the river and through the woods, either.
"Every employee works that day," Jetts said. "Nobody's allowed off unless they you have a real good excuse."
Delivery is a big driver for pre-Thanksgiving demand, but so is convenience. Even pizzerias that only offer carry-out will see a pick-up in people picking up pies.
"We should see an increase of up to 50 percent nationally versus a typical Wednesday," said Little Caesars spokeswoman Kathryn Oldham.
First a slice, then a drink
At Buddy's Restaurant and Pizzeria, the pizza boost goes hand-in-hand with the big night for bars and saloons. Nightlife spots have their biggest day of the year as college kids reunite with hometown friends and head out to celebrate, said Wesley Pikula, vice president of operations for the nine-store Detroit-based chain.
"We've been at it so long the customers typically make it part of the annual experience," Pikula said.
"They start the night out at Buddy's and then to a lot of late-night places. They get filled up and stay out late."
While other holidays are graced with specialties like heart-shaped pies for Valentine's Day and football-shaped ones for the Super Bowl, pizzeria owners stay away from specialty offerings at Thanksgiving -- especially when it comes to toppings."
"We tried turkey," Eugene Jetts said, "but it doesn't work on a pie."
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