Pizza Today - March 2021 - 10

CONVERSATION

JEREME
COLLINS
Ronettis Pizza
London, Ohio

Concept:
We started out as a carryout/
delivery concept. In 1996, the
owners at the time decided
to move into a larger building
downtown, and expand to offer
dine-in services. Today, even
through this pandemic, we
are a full-service restaurant.
We have a fairly large menu,
with options from appetizers,
salads, subs, burgers, pasta,
and of course, pizza.
Pizza Style:
We offer a single style of crust,
thin crust. Many describe it
as a cracker crust. We make
our dough in-house, each day,
using the same exact recipe
that has been used for over
50 years!

In the business for more than 50 years, how
has Ronettis been able to stay relevant in a
changing industry?
I feel our success started long before I
became the owner of the restaurant. The
founders of Ronettis provided a great product,
with service to match, when they first began
in 1969. Ronettis became a staple in the pizza
(and restaurant) market in London from the
very beginning. I believe that has given us a
huge advantage today, to take a little more risk
on changes we may want to make, big or small.
Over the last 10 years that I have owned the
restaurant, we have continually had to take
risks. We have made changes to the menu, our
service hours, online ordering options, and our
delivery range. In 2020, with COVID coming
upon us, it required us to make changes I never
believed would be possible for us (or maybe I
just wasn't willing to take the risk with some
things). From time to time we do promotions
that get people even more excited to come
here. For example, on our 50th anniversary, we
had 15 " pizzas for $2.75, which was the price
they were in 1969. That promotion wasn't a
money maker, but we gained new customers,
did something to show our appreciation for the
community, and had a lot of fun while doing it!

How are you able to maintain such a strong
team of employees?
I am so fortunate that so many of our
employees are really self-motivated to get
the job done. Those are the best employees to
have, and sometimes the hardest to find. Those
are the employees I have to keep around. And
the longer they work here, the better they
become. So many of our staff are already great
friends with one another, or have developed a
great friendship from working here. When that
happens, it makes it much more enjoyable for
them to come to work with their friends. Finding
great employees is my greatest struggle, but
they're also my greatest asset!
I saw a great Instagram post from you
addressing rumors. You encountered rumors
during 2020 that could have been damaging to
your business. How were you able to handle the
hearsay?
We had been hearing rumors of our closing,
as well as other things related to that for quite
some time. I wasn't offended or upset by any of
them, because our sales were indicating that our
community was continuing to support us. But
one particular day I had heard another rumor
that our business was closing, so I decided to
address these on social media. I tried to keep it
light hearted and funny, and quite frankly, use it
as a promotion for us. The post went over very
well, as we received a lot of positive comments
and appreciation for our staff and restaurant.

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