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Published on Friday, May 09, 2008
Northeast Ohioans lined up Thursday — some waiting up to three hours and even skipping work — as Papa John's served up its 23-cent pizza penance.
The crush of customers wanting to cash in on the pizza deal overwhelmed the chain. Customers could phone in or walk in and order a large, one-topping carryout pizza for 23 cents.
Walk-ins had to stand in two long lines, the first to order and the second to collect their pizzas.
At one point in the afternoon, nervous officials warned that stores — which had geared up to make 75,000 pizzas — could run out of cheese and dough before the promotion ended at 10 p.m.
Things got shaky at some stores by late afternoon.
By dinnertime, the East Waterloo store warned a crowd of several hundred snaked around the building that it would close if it ran out of ingredients. As the day grew colder and wetter, many in the ranks defected a few feet away to CiCi's Pizza, which advertises large, one-topping pizzas for $5.99.
Customers said the East Market Street Papa John's closed around 4 p.m., sending a crowd of several hundred scrambling, then reopened several hours later.
The one-day deal — offered at 76 franchise stores in Ohio — was an apology to Cavaliers fans for a promotion by a Washington, D.C., area Papa John's that included T-shirts portraying Cavs star LeBron James as a ''Crybaby.''
Some customers started waiting in line at breakfast time Thursday.
At 8:30 a.m., Geneva King, 62, was first in line outside the store on West Market Street in Akron's Wallhaven neighborhood.
''Where can you go today to get a meal for 23 cents, unless it's sardines?'' King, a retired nursing assistant who lives in Akron, asked shortly before the store opened at 11 a.m.
Traffic jams
After the pizzapalooza began, Akron police reported traffic was at a standstill on southbound state Route 8 because of drivers trying to exit at Buchtel Avenue/Carroll Street to get to the East Market Street store.
Lines were so long by midafternoon at the East Market Street store that police were stationed outside to maintain order and control traffic.
The diverse crowd — teens, women with children, older men and an elderly woman in a wheelchair — wrapped around the building.
Some customers said they waited three hours. Others waited 90 minutes.
Customers said there were some small scuffles and others complained of people cutting in line, a complaint heard at other stores throughout the early evening.
''The response has been overwhelming,'' said Chris Sternberg, Papa John's corporate vice president of communications, in Louisville, Ky.
''The lines were unbelievable. Our team members worked all day, feverishly, answering phones and making pies.''
Asked about people complaining of long lines, Sternberg said, ''We felt we made a lot of people happy today . . . plus we raised a lot of money for the LeBron James Family Foundation.''
Proceeds from Thursday's promotion will benefit the foundation, started by James in 2004. Papa John's corporate is chipping in another $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.
Alicia Brown, 37, standing outside the West Market store shortly before noon, had waited 90 minutes. But she urged patience.
''At this deal — this is expected,'' she said.
Bill Hauser, a professor of marketing at the University of Akron, said the promotion works because people will associate Papa John's with the Cavaliers, putting the pizza ''top of mind.''
''In the short term,'' he said, ''they may have some customer frustration issues.''
Complaining customers won't find much sympathy, he said. ''One of their friends or somebody will say, 'It's only a 23-cent pizza.' ''
Instant party
At the Wallhaven store, two Akron moms, Erin Dennison and Laura Rogers, used the opportunity to cater a preschool party — at the principal's suggestion.
''Hopefully two pizzas will be enough,'' said Dennison, 25. She pointed to her son, Nathan, 21 months, in a stroller. ''We're hoping he counts for one.'' (He didn't.)
As the moms waited for their cheese pizzas, Nathan repeated: ''Pizza, pizza, pizza.''
Rogers' son, 3-month-old Cayden, slept through the whole thing.
The store started the day with seven people working, up from the usual two, all wearing maroon Cavaliers ''Rise Up!'' T-shirts.
''We're looking at upwards of 2,000 pies,'' Jim Vonspiegel, assistant manager, said as workers hurried to answer one phone call after another. That's up from 100 for a typical Thursday.
Walk-in customers far outnumbered those who called ahead. Customers outside this and other stores said phones lines were jammed.
The Wallhaven store started with 80 pounds of pepperoni on hand, up from the usual 20, and 450 trays of dough.
Workers folded more than 1,000 boxes before the opening, and were relying on a two-tier conveyor oven to get the pies cooked in 61/2 minutes each.
Alternative fare
Andrea Hummell, manager of CiCi's Pizza at 352 E. Waterloo Road just behind Papa John's, said her sales grew phenomenally on Thursday. New customers started filing in when she opened at 9 a.m., she said. The eat-in pizza, pasta, salad and dessert buffet, which costs $4.99, was packed all day. Takeout pizza orders more than tripled.
Jennifer Noesner of East Akron was partaking of the buffet with her boyfriend, Jermaine Scott. They were disenchanted after being turned away from Papa John's and ended up at CiCi's. The chain will lose more business by sending customers away empty-handed than it will gain by selling 23-cent pizzas, she said.
''They put the idea of pizzas into everybody's head,'' she said, scooping up a salad from the buffet.
In Springfield Township, Niki Kavadas-Bealer, manager of Theo's Bar & Grill on Massillon Road, heard of long waits outside Papa John's stores and decided to offer 23-cent beers (domestic only) from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday as the Cavs played the Celtics.
''We feel bad people are waiting . . . If they're irritated, they can come in for a drink,'' she said.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Beacon Journal staff writer Phil Trexler contributed to this report.
Northeast Ohioans lined up Thursday — some waiting up to three hours and even skipping work — as Papa John's served up its 23-cent pizza penance.
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