Does every one sell by the slice?

[techiedude]

I travel a good bit and I noticed when I was up in the north east that most of the indies I went to sell by the slice. Here in the south where I live we mostly we have the big three and they dont sell by the slice (only if you do the buffet). Do must of you sell by the slice and do you recomend it?

 

[steveo922]

I did it for 2 months, and every single day I would throw food away. I decided not to stick with it. Plus, the quality factor played a huge part in dumping the idea. When people come in and ask, I’d say 60% of the people walk out of here with a freshly made 8 inch lunch special.

 

[ddariel20]

do the other 40% get something or just leave? you could just produce slices for the lunch rush

 

[techiedude]

How about buffett style dinning. Do you offer that?

 

[steveo922]

ddariel20:

do the other 40% get something or just leave? you could just produce slices for the lunch rush

I was doing slices only from 11:30-2 pm… Most people that want slices aren’t from around here and are just looking for a quick bite. I always at the very least give them a menu, and offer them appetizers, or our lunch special.

 

[stridemiester]

I have always wondered how a drive thru slice operation would pan out. The biggest problem would be the traditional operation doesn’t have the required parking lot arrangement to allow drive thru. But in a start up this would be easier to accommodate. Also I wonder what impact this would have on your carryout percentage? Would this be a viable option to reduce dependency on delivery? At $5 for delivery charge and tip, I think people would consider carryout if the associated problems with window wait times could be managed properly.

 

[ddariel20]

for ourf business they are a must at lunch time with people running around looking for a quick bite…the rest of the time they are hit or miss

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

stridemiester:

I have always wondered how a drive thru slice operation would pan out. The biggest problem would be the traditional operation doesn’t have the required parking lot arrangement to allow drive thru. But in a start up this would be easier to accommodate. Also I wonder what impact this would have on your carryout percentage? Would this be a viable option to reduce dependency on delivery? At $5 for delivery charge and tip, I think people would consider carryout if the associated problems with window wait times could be managed properly.

I have a drive thru. I put it in back in 1992. We doubled our business within 3 years. We never delivered. We have a full menu of pizza, strombolis, subs, salads, and sides. I have days that I will see 150 cars go through the drive thru.

 

[pizzapirate]

steveo922:

I did it for 2 months, and every single day I would throw food away. I decided not to stick with it. Plus, the quality factor played a huge part in dumping the idea. When people come in and ask, I’d say 60% of the people walk out of here with a freshly made 8 inch lunch special.

I understand where you are coming from but I believe there are dividends down the road. Between just opening up and only trying it for two months really is not giving it a fair shot. Do you have a display case? Offer different varieties? Slice and drink special? Slice, salad and drink special?

When we finally “committed” to slices our slice sales went up. Committed means we use a timer so they don’t sit too long, have variety, and have them from open to close. Generally, people who want slices want them “now”. People will walk right out even if you tell them the next slicer is coming out in two minutes. Have that happen a few times and you will never see them again.

Also, slices sell whole pies. Its a cheap/low-risk way for people to try you out.

Do the math and figure out what your sales would be for that other “40%” – slices, drinks, etc. That should at least make up for the waste. Personally, I think slices are worth it even if you don’t make any money off them. Samples = future sales.

 

[prenv]

where you guys from mars
over here if you did not sell by the slice your better off closing your doors maybe its just us from ny and ct
but not selling by the slice is unheard of and just weird.

 

[indie_pizza]

prenv:

where you guys from mars
over here if you did not sell by the slice your better off closing your doors maybe its just us from ny and ct
but not selling by the slice is unheard of and just weird.

No, I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with where you’re from, it just depends on the market and what they want. You’re in an area with a condensed population that should have heavy store front traffic. Have you ever been to the midwest? Successful businesses adapt to their surroundings, just because your market supports small orders, does not mean that everyone’s will.

Nobody here is from Mars, I can only imagine what Gregster could come up with to put his boss out of business with those delivery fees.

BTW: I do sell by the slice and am the only shop in town that does it, because I’m the only shop in town that has a clientele to support it. See how that works?

 

[Charles]

prenv:

where you guys from mars
over here if you did not sell by the slice your better off closing your doors maybe its just us from ny and ct
but not selling by the slice is unheard of and just weird.

Yup, we are from all over the world and things are different in different places.

 

[yadama]

Tried it but just didn’t work for us. Only for poker fund raiser, car show, chamber events and our street fair. My lunch crowd doesn’t support it. I never know from day to day what I"m going to get a run on. Some days it’s pizza, some sandwichs or soup. No matter how I try to keep it warm, heat light, warmer, oven, after abour 10 minutes I can see it changing. Customers did not complain about it but I did not feel good about selling it. If someone comes in and asks for slices I can usually offer them something else from my menu that I can make quickly if time is an issue. In 7 years I have only had a few that got mad. I just told the I was sorry but we are not a “fast food” restaurant. We make everything fresh. I go to alot of trouble to have fresh ingredients.