Tale of Two Pizza Shops

By Tommy Leung on 05/13/2010 in Marketing

There are two pizza shops that are the same distance from where I live. One is a block down and half a block to the left. The other is a block down and half a block to the right.

The one on the right just recently opened. It had opened after I had moved here. I’ve only been here for a little over half a year. The one on the left appears to be established. It was here before I got here so, it appears old to me.

It is always imperative to know where the pizza places are in a new neighborhood. You need to know the coffee shop, the supermarket, the bank, the gym, the liquor store, and the pizza place. At least, those are the establishments I visit most.

I tried the established pizza place and I liked them. When the new pizza place opened up, I tried them. Their pizza wasn’t really to my liking but, they are open until 1AM. They were also very nice. I had heard the people working there talking about superior customer service during a late night pizza run. I didn’t think much of it, every business thinks they provide or want to provide “superior customer service”.

I continued to go to the old pizza place. I liked their pizza better. They were nice enough. They weren’t rude. Nothing extraordinary. Just pizza that I liked.

One day, I was walking home and passed one of the guys from the new pizza place on the street. He smilingly nodded at me acknowledging that he knew me. I nodded back–it’s only polite.

When I walk home from the gym, I have to pass the old pizza place. One night, I walked past the owner of the old pizza place as he was locking up. He saw me and looked away as if he didn’t know who I was. We’ve briefly chatted and I’ve been to his pizza shop enough.

I really didn’t think much of this either. It’s New York. No offense taken.

Tonight, I bought pizza from the new place. They have a special $1 regular slice of pizza on Wednesday. I didn’t really want pizza but, for $1 a slice, why the hell not? It gave me the crave.

The man behind the counter was as courteous as ever even while I was spending no more than $2. He was also very nice to the other customers in the shop. As I left the shop, I remembered when this place opened and how often it was empty. That has changed. It’s rarely empty now.

I still don’t prefer their pizza but, I prefer their service. And I think I prefer it enough to go there instead from now on. Great customer service does count for something.

There was a third pizza place across the street from these two. It is now closed. They must have had mediocre pizza and mediocre service.

By Tommy Leung