Lunch Only Pizza Shop - Viable Idea???

Hi All. First let me say I think this site is great. I just discovered it today and I have spent the last 4 hours reading about all sorts of different topics.

I’m a typical office worker who is tired of the corporate 9-5 shirt and tie world. I’ve always loved pizza and am now thinking of opening my own shop. My idea is a little different then what most shops are though. I’m thinking of a lunch only shop. Before you throw out my idea let me explain…

As I mentioned before I work in an office building. There are 10 floors and each floor has at least 100 people on it. There are 14 other buildings like this all with in a quarter mile (its all based around the corners of 1 intersection). So that’s about 14,000 people working in a very small area. Can you believe there is no pizza by the slice place near there??? The closest ones are about 3 miles away which means we have to drive there.

With that said I think there is a great market for the lunch crowd. I was thinking a deal of 2 slices (from an 18" pizza) and a can of soda for $6. The other places in town charge between $4.50 and $5. Figure I can charge a little more for the convenience of not having to drive.

However, because the area is mostly an office park its pretty dead at night. There is a movie theater near by but even that is not very crowded at night. Thus I am not sure that it would make sense to stay open for a dinner crowd that I’m not even sure exists. Aside from that the only parking near by is in garages that you have to pay for, so that’s another deterrent for people to drive there. Plus on top of all that the space available is very small, only about 500 SQFT. So I wouldn’t be able to set up an extensive seating area for people to come in and dine.

So I’m thinking my typical day would be around 9-4, which give me adequate time for morning prep before lunch and clean up afterward.

With all this being said, I was wondering if any one out there has a similar type set up and has made it work. I have read through and see that most people talk about delivery and other items that lend themselves to a more traditional restaurant set up. Before diving deeper into this I’m just looking to see if its even a viable concept in the industry.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Sounds like an awesome location to me. Only issue I see is the parking. Will people from the other 13 buildings walk over to you? Is it that close? What happens in the rain, snow, etc? I would look into doing some take and bake pizzas as well. If that building is filled with people who are looking to take a meal home, you could probably get some of them to buy a pizza to take home, or a pan of pasta, etc.

-Scott

OH good idea on the take and bake. I hadn’t thought about that.

The other buildings are close enough to walk. Basically 3 of the corners of the intersection are office park complexes and 1 is an outdoor mall that has some large chain restaurants and people from the office buildings walk there all the time. (on a side note I’ve recently discovered exacty how far people are willing to walk as I’ve had to do it myself several times since I started carpooling and had no car at my disposal for lunch, LOL).

Also snow is a non-issue as its a climate that rarely gets it. Rain i’m sure would slow sales but only on those specifc days.

Breakfast and lunch would work. This can be done with speed and ease. I have developed this type of set up. You could open 7 - 3 then go home. How about delivery?

I’m thinking the delivery range would be very small. Basically 2 blocks in any direction. I figure 90% of the delivery would be to businesses providing lunches for their entire office. I’m imagining a very small work force, maybe only 3 employees total.

What type of breakfast items could be served? Most of the other pizza places I’ve seen all open around 10 or 11, completely giving up on the breakfast crowd.

Sounds like you could have a good idea here, you’ll have to be good at getting orders in fast and food out even faster for lunch crowds. I think take and bake is a good idea. How far are people commuting? Maybe you could stay open until 6(ish) in case people wanted to grab a fully cooked pie on the way home, or slices and calzones that are portable enough to eat on the way home.

If it were me, I’d avoid trying to do breakfast too. You’re going to have to be there at 5:00 a.m. or earlier to have prep work done in time.

itzzapizza:

Breakfast and lunch would work. This can be done with speed and ease. I have developed this type of set up. You could open 7 - 3 then go home. How about delivery?

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I can’t add anything to this thread other than to agree with everybody’s posts so far. Sounds like a great idea.
But your business plan on paper and Go for it.
Good luck
CaptnSammy