Pizza Today - August 2018 - 3

Commentary

Building an Empire

B
JEREMY WHITE

JWHITE@PIZZATODAY.COM

eginning on page 44, Associate Editor Denise Greer takes readers inside
Empire Slice House, a bustling and
hip Oklahoma City pizzeria that rocks out
$3.9 million in gross sales.
We've named Empire our Independent Pizzeria of the Year, and for good reason. As if the
sales - absolutely remarkable for a single unit
- aren't enough, there's also the vibe, marketing moxy and co-founder Rachel Cope's vision.
For me, this quote from Denise's article says all
you need to know about Cope and the way she
has gone about building her Empire.
"I don't really have a bone in me that says
I'm ever going to fail," the 33-year-old Cope
says. "I realize we might stumble at some point,
but I know there is a solution."
Cope is the youngest person to date to be
honored with the Independent of the Year
Award. She attributes her never-say-die
outlook to her sports background. As a former
college athlete myself, I get exactly where she's
coming from. She has been trained to demand
excellence of herself and her crew. And, by
God, she's getting it.
If you want to be inspired, read Cope's story.
If nothing else, take heed of her answer when
she encounters trouble in the food business
realm. "We'll figure it out" is another mantra of
hers that serves her well.
Sometimes, that's what you have to do: figure it out. For Cope, that meant myriad things,
from learning dough techniques to implementing better employee training and retention
systems. When she was initially told she had

a good business plan but subpar pizza, she
hopped a plane and headed to Tony Gemignani's pizza school in San Francisco.
There's much to admire about this young
entrepreneur and her business. I'm excited we
get to share her story in these pages.
I'M ALSO EXCITED TO SAY WE'RE MAKING STRIDES AT BUILDING OUR OWN PIZZA
EMPIRE HERE AT PIZZA TODAY. The second
installment of Pizza & Pasta Northeast is now
just two months away. The show is October
3-4 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and we've
lined up an absolute star-studded cast of
presenters and speakers for attendees. Not to
mention a packed show floor.
In our follow-up research after last year's
inaugural PPNE event, we discovered some
really good news: the folks who attend PPNE
are vastly different from those who attend
International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. In
other words, we are working with an entirely
new set of attendees, and that helps keep
things fresh and exciting.
If you haven't already registered to attend,
visit www.pizzaandpastaexpo.com today to
punch your ticket to this must-see event.
Best,

JEREMY WHITE
EDITOR IN CHIEF

CLICK.EXPLORE.CONNECT. @PIZZATODAY

COVER: EMPIRE SLICE HOUSE
PHOTO & LAYOUT:
RICK DAUGHERTY

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Pizza Today - August 2018

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