Business in Westbank

[singhgill]

Hi, I am the owner of a pizza restaurant. I bought it last year in July 2014. I did my research but obviously not enough on the demographics of Westbank. My business is not doing well. Any thoughts on why that might be the case? I would love to hear from the rest of the West side to see what you guys think. What could we do better in West Kelowna? This thread is to generate ideas on what I might be missing. I'm from Edmonton and might still not understand the demographic as well as I would like. People in West Kelowna just don't like Pizza? I would like to try new things that might help the business. Any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated.

[bigchef]

I have a comment. You are a0 trying to compete with Papa john's and that is hard enough. But since moving to the West Side a few months back we have ordered PJ's. PJ's always comes on time, fresh and hot. Other place takes longer, is not fresh or hot. So after i think 3 tries we have concluded that PJ's is the better choice. There is some insight for you. I hope it helps.

[singhgill]

It does and I appreciate you replying. We are working on getting our times down. At the current sales level, it's hard for me to have too many drivers on and I do admit sometimes it takes longer for us to get there. That is an issue I am trying to resolve. Our times are usually quoted high but we never take that long. I will continue to work on that. Thanks again.

[GoStumpy]

As another West Kelowna business, I can agree that it is a hard nut to crack. I do a lot of work in Kelowna, if I was to survive solely on Westbank, I wouldn't have opened.

There are a lot of options for Pizza, so you're first of all looking at how often people order Pizza... then how many pizza shops share that amount... I'd guess at least 5 different pizza shops... You really need to offer something special to stand out..

You cannot succeed in West Kelowna with a call center, I can pretty much promise you that.

That's my advice anyway, take it as you wish!

[singhgill]

I would gladly give out the store number to have people call me directly. The call center isn't by choice. It's a franchise and I have no say in that. They feel very strongly about it because they make a lot of money of it. People need to separate the big name of the chain from the poor owners. I would gladly get rid of the call center, hire more local staff, and serve my community in that way. That's not something that my big legal document allows me to do though.

[kelownawriter]

Eesh, that call center, I agree.

It's unfortunate that the big guys have you by the throat on that one because you'd likely get a boost of business alone just by allowing people to call your store directly.

[singhgill]

I give out my number anywhere I possibly can.

[Bibbs]

Not advice but just some info--we live in peachland so we go to 2for1 as it is close. My son and his girlfriend who also live in peachland drive past 2for1 to your store to get their pizza.

[singhgill]

I would love to get to a point where i can deliver to Peachland without hurting my other delivery times. I live in Peachland and we do deliver to some areas but cannot do all of Peachland. Our delivery area goes up to Westside Road and if I were to delivery to the edge of Peachland, we would not get there to the Westbank deliveries. I do appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

[juliatrops]

I got the number ... it is easy to remember 'cause it is one of my daughter's birth year. We don't do the delivery though, we order for a specific time and pick it up. Works well for us. No we don't live in the Westbank area.

[ohgeeze]

To be honest with you, I forget about your pizza place. I think its your location, that parking lot is a disaster...just my opinion.

[Symbonite]

I dont think the parking lot is an issue ....I mean look at people at starbucks...

Also I hate how 2 for 1 pizza places is not really 2 for one...

Your forced to buy the 2 pizza at X amount what if you just want one...is the same X amount

but you look at another pizza place in town and they have a aggressive 2 toppings 2 large pizza for 12.99 or a personal pizza and pop for 5.25 tax in...

Iv done pappa Johns..pretty good but some of the better specials are online...I dont care to much to order online...so I can never get that deal...

I wonder how Pizza hut is doing since they are doing limited seating...order out only....

[Jo]

I have removed the references to the business name in question, as that is advertising - and have edited each post that mentions the name.

The conversation can carry on as long as it is in a general way. Sorry, but that's the way it has to be.

A note about the call centre - I just go ahead and order online, it works like a dream and is super-fast. Never had an order go wrong yet.

[ohgeeze]

Maybe its that particular coffee shop I'm talking about...have you seen them. Went to telus on Wednesday and my car was parked and seemed like it was "open season" to swish by so fast and come close to my vehicle. Drive through there is a silly set up as are many other drive throughs IMO, not well planned. Most times I park across from the LC, telus, etc and walk over, but then your still taking a chance walking...ok, sorry off topic. Anahoo....I would suggest finding another location for your pizza joint. I know that sounds easy when its not my money!

[Randall T]

We used to order pizza at least once a month but never do anymore. We make our own because we feel it's much healthier and the bonus is it's fresh from the oven. When I compare the cost of ordering two large pizzas to buying the ingredients I prefer and making my own, I'm motivated to spend the time. Dough used to be the most time consuming part of it, but with modern kitchen appliances it's fast and painless. So, what this leaves is ordering merely for convenience. My point is, maybe the market has changed enough that people are looking at less expensive and healthier options. This is hardly helpful though for a franchise situation where you can't adjust to the local market and do something different than the competition. If I could order pizza that I felt that was as good for my family as what we make at home, I would probably do it more often. I'm not criticizing your product, but just saying maybe more people are looking at alternate ways when it comes to pizza. Today's businesses have to stand out from the rest, and that is probably even more important with the West Kelowna population and demographics. I really think a pizzeria could be very successful here, but the owner would need to be allowed to change the menu and pricing and do things their way to meet the challenges head on.

Regardless of my preferences and opinion, I hope business improves for you and I wish you all the best with your endeavours.