Pizza Today - February 2022 - 14

MAN ON THE STREET SCO TT WIENER
supporting a local family.
Memories and family stories are great,
but I get even more excited when I see old
ads and photos. Just last week I checked out
a pizzeria in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Th e
place was totally sterile and boring, but a
blown-up image of an old ad for a long-gone
pizzeria in the same neighborhood caught
my eye. I love the connection to the past!
Where do you even fi nd old images and
documents? It's much easier than you'd
think. Start by poking around online
newspaper archives like Newspapers.com or
your own local paper if they have a digitized
backlog. By searching your pizzeria's name
or even some general terms like " pizzeria "
you'll fi nd that old ad you placed in a local
paper in 1994. Search your grandmother's
name and maybe you'll fi nd an article about
her from when she owned a bakery down
the block.
Check out genealogy websites like
Dig Into Your History
W
hat makes your pizzeria diff erent
from the other 75,114 in
the U.S.? You're probably not
the only " Home of the Buff alo Chicken
Pizza " and you're certainly not the sole " Best
In Town. " Everybody's always looking for
ways to boost their pizzeria above the competition,
and there's a fantastic opportunity
right under your nose. As a small business
owner, you have a unique asset in your own
personal story. Hopefully that's already
part of your brand, so I'm asking you to go
deeper. I'm suggesting you dig into your
family history.
Th ere's a pizzeria I love in Brooklyn
called Luigi's Pizza. As you can imagine,
there's more than one Luigi's Pizza in
Brooklyn, but this one really stands out.
As you wait for your pie, owner Giovanni
Lanza will tell you about how his parents
worked day and night to start the pizzeria.
He'll show you photos, articles and, if he
really likes you, he'll even bust out his parents'
wedding album with black and white
photos from the ceremony in Italy. Th at's
more than you'd ever get from the " Established
1972 " sign on the door. Sharing his
story forms a connection with the customer
that makes them feel like they're not just
buying a pizza from a local shop, they're
Ancestry.com and you'll fi nd your grandfather's
WWII draft card, old marriage
records and photos. Talk to your local library
or historical society. Maybe they have photos
of your block before your pizzeria ever
existed. Th ere's a trend among restaurants
in NYC posting old tax photos taken by
the city in 1940. I love seeing what business
predated yours, even if it wasn't a pizzeria. It
instills a connection to the community.
Even more importantly, learn from them.
Th ere are nuggets of information on these
old records that might completely change
your understanding of your own pizzeria.
We've found evidence that some pizzerias in
New York City are actually older than their
signage claims! Previously unknown links
between pizzerias came to light and now
there's an even more interesting story than
previously thought.
Customers like me are tired of the ubiquitous
photos of Frank Sinatra and the cast of
Th e Sopranos. We're ready to see your past,
to learn where you came from. It's guaranteed
to set you apart from the competition.
SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org Instagram: @scottspizzatours
14 / PIZZATODAY.COM / FEBRUARY 2022

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Pizza Today - February 2022

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