GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On a cold and snowy Friday night, the dining room at Mr. Pizza is mostly empty, aside from a few customers waiting for takeout orders. But don't be fooled--the lack of foot traffic isn't indicative of how busy the business really is.
Owner Jacob Schoonmaker is all over the place. He's not only making sure his staff members have everything they need, he's also the guy responsible for plowing the back parking lot.
"It's stressful," Schoonmaker said.
"We do a lot of pick-ups, and then when the weather gets like this we do another 30-40% in deliveries. It's hard to plan for when that happens."
Letting customers know what timeframe they can expect their orders is one of the hardest parts.
"That's the big thing. It's trying to explain to people that our safety of the drivers is our main concern and that you still get a decent timeframe. Nobody wants a cold pizza. It's definitely hard to gauge all of it," Schoonmaker said.
"It's not going to be three hours. But we can't guarantee it's going to be 45 minutes either. And most of them are very understanding, but you get that 1% that aren't having it."
One advantage that Mr. Pizza has on nights like this, is that it's available on delivery apps, so those third-party delivery drivers can pick up orders and take some of the workload off of Mr. Pizza's delivery drivers.
"We like to run the deliveries. We like to do it ourselves. That helps us ensure the customer is getting the food on time and everything's going according to plan, but on a night like tonight it does help to have those platforms because they do take a lot of deliveries off of our plates," Schoonmaker said.
Along with being patient, Schoonmaker says one thing customers can do to help is to make sure their paths and porches are clear of snow and ice so delivery drivers can stay safe.
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