Pizza Today - April 2022 - 48

egalitarian as possible and it has
worked out. "
The key to St. Angelo's success
also has been the teams at both
locations. Key positions have been
with the company for several years
from managers to the kitchen
crews. Over a year ago, the Vinings
general manager of eight years was
ready to move on. Ansley Walden
stepped in and stepped up. Since
coming on board, St. Angelo's hasn't
skipped a beat. The GM is such a
vital position that Rowe says, " You
take care of her, and you support
her. But also, I can tell her 'Listen if
something goes wrong, let me show
you how to fix it. Running that cue
with 160 deliveries on a Friday is
no joke, matching up doubles and
knowing the area on how to match
them up. "
In addition to higher wages,
Rowe has instituted several
OWNER of St. Angelo's, Sean Rowe
employee programs. " We do
involved things where they get
together a lot, " he says. " We do
some bonus programs for them.
" We're actually about to roll
out some insurance stuff, " he says.
After years of seeing extremely
high rates, Rowe says now is the
time. " The pricing is right, and the
plans are right, " he says. " They're
affordable enough for me to help
compensate for some of it and
then put a little skin in the game.
We have roughly 70 employees.
We'll have 100 when summer rolls
around between the two. "
Transforming in the face
of adversity isn't new to
Rowe. It's been his challenge
since St. Angelo's infancy. What
began as a simple investment
turned into a 20-year career for
Rowe. " I definitely fell into pizza, "
he laughs.
Rowe grew up around his great
uncle's pizzeria (St. Angelo's
Pizzeria) in Grand Island, New
York. " I worked for him during
my summers, " he says. " So, I was
always around the pizza business.
48 / PIZZATODAY.COM / APRIL 2022
And I never thought in a million
years I would be in the pizza
business. "
Very successful in the software
business for six years, Rowe was
ready for something new. His
uncle approached him in 2002 to
invest in a carryout and delivery
pizzeria. " Well sure, how hard can
that be as I'm strutting? " he says.
" Big mistake. "
But hindsight being 20/20,
Rowe says, " The place is a disaster.
The food is horrible. " His only
recourse he felt was to open a new
location and change everything.
Wait, what?
" The definition of an
entrepreneur is to be able to pay
for your mistakes, " he says. " But
the ego will not let me let this go
away. So, I find (a location next
to the) Kroger. It's $35 a square
foot in 2003. But it's not more
than 1,000 square feet. " Rowe
eventually bought out the business
from his uncle.
" I upgraded the cheese,
pepperoni and sausage, " he says.
" I didn't change everything
immediately, but the dough did
change and slowly then the sauce.
Everything was wrong, " he says.
" The first day we opened
over there we did like $850,
and I thought it was made from
Heaven, " he says of St. Angelo's
2004 launch. " Then we started
tweaking the menu and then I
developed those garlic knots. "
He tackled reformulating the
pizza dough. " I must have made
300 to 400 batches of dough that
I threw out in the course of a few
months, " he says. " With enough of
the expertise from the guys I had
working for me, we sort of came
into figuring out the dough. That
took a good year or two. "
The small Kroger takeout
and delivery spot became
a draw for the area. As Rowe
saw the need for more space, he
approached a restaurant owner
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