Hungry Howie's Pizza, a franchise store based in Michigan, took the former Pizza Inn's place at 235 W. Union St. on June 8 to cater to the Athens area.
Things are going great
said Brandon Buckley, owner of Hungry Howie's Pizza and 21-year-old Ohio University business major in entrepreneurship.
In the past four weeks, Buckley finished his franchising training in Michigan, took over the former Pizza Inn's storefront, remodeled the store and is now busy with the catering orders.
Buckley came across the business idea last October. During almost a year's preparation, he said the most difficult part was getting quality employees.
All the other stuff is easy such as controlling labor and fuel costs Buckley said, But in the pizza business
there's an always-hiring process.
Because 95 percent of the employees at Hungry Howie's are college students, the employee-training costs surge as students leave easily, Buckley said.
Buckley launched his store in the summer to establish the base of community
though he said he knew that students leaving Athens somewhat decelerate Uptown businesses.
Students come and go
but community is always here
he said, [Summer] is good timing to let the community know what Hungry Howie's got.
Hungry Howie's is the third restaurant to occupy the West Union Street location during the last four years.
According to an Aug. 10, 2000, Summer Post article, Kentucky Fried Chicken launched a second restaurant in April 1999 at the West Union Street location but closed in September 2000 after a year of delivery business, when Pizza Inn replaced the storefront.
Jim Herpy, an owner of the former West Union Street KFC, said in that article that one of the reasons for closing the eatery was because the partnership between the owners of the Athens KFC locations, including the one on Stimson Avenue, could not support the cost of two restaurants in the Athens area.
This past April, Andrew Riegger, the general manager of Pizza Inn, said management left for other business opportunities, citing the slow business in Athens and too much competition.
However, Buckley said the business location has been better than what he expected.
Business speaks for itself. It's a great location
good for delivery
he said. There is a lot of competition. The reason why we're selling so much is that we have an excellent product and good customer service.
Buckley said the reasons for former businesses leaving might lie in their lack of advertising and failure to inform the area about what products the restaurants have.
I definitely do a lot of advertising
he said. We make sure we pay attention to our community
trying to get as much awareness (as possible) and get a good community base.
Lui Lui Restaurant, 8 Station St., is close to West Union Street's Hungry Howie's. Jade Mu, manager of Lui Lui, said she is happy to see new business on West Union Street.
Mu is not concerned about the competition because of the different menus offered at Hungry Howie's and Lui Lui.
As of last Thursday, Buckley said one of the biggest sellers at Hungry Howie's is subs.
