Family-owned Paesan’s Pizza expands into Schenectady County
Tough economic times are not slowing down one family owned business as their sixth pizzeria opens, with further expansion planned.
If you’re from the Capital District you might have heard of Paesan’s Pizza and Schenectady County is now getting their share of the pie. Although there are five other locations in nearby areas, the opening in Rotterdam on Nov. 15 marked the first taste for the county. The three brothers are hoping to bring residents what they’ve been asking for from them.
We got people requesting, ‘When are you guys going to open up in Rotterdam?’ said Franchi Scavio, co-owner of the business.
Brothers Vinnie, Lorenzo and Franchi Scavio designed the 5,000 square foot restaurant at 2513 Guilderland Ave. in Rotterdam. The contemporary design has high ceilings, granite countertops, tiled floors and flat screen televisions on the walls. Franchi said one of things people say when they first enter the store is they can’t believe it is a pizzeria.
The move just made sense to Franchi, because they look at demographics and where else they’re located. He said they try to open up their stores at least five miles apart from each other, so they can start a new delivery zone where one ends. Although, Rotterdam is a location they’ve came to enjoy.
`[Rotterdam] reminds me of back home,` said Franchi. `We grew up in Brooklyn and the neighborhood we grew up in was mostly Italian, which is like here, we see there is a lot of Italians. What I like about it most it is not a corporate town; it is very blue collared, hard working families and you don’t have to go to a shopping center to buy something.`
While the town has made a good impression on him, it also seems the residents have come to like them too.
`So far it has been really good,` said Lorenzo about the public’s response to the new location. `We’ve exceeded the expectations that we had and we’ve only just started, so it can only get better from here.`
Owning pizzerias has been a long journey for the brothers with a humble beginning in September of 1994 in Albany. The Scavio’s were originally from Brooklyn, but moved to the Capital District before starting their business.
`Dad always wanted to start a business when the kids got older,` said Franchi. `Dad pretty much gave us the option, ‘do you want to go to college or do you want to start a business?’`
The family of five lived in an apartment above their first pizzeria and the three brothers slept on blow up mattresses with their parents getting the bed. That is where Franchi said he lived for seven years too. Without much credit, family members found it hard to secure an apartment.
`My goal is to buy the apartment complex that turned us down,` joked Franchi.
Working with family members has also proved not to be too difficult after figuring out how to best work with each other.
`Too many chiefs and not enough Indians,` Franchi said about working with family members. `We’ve always had that problem. Over the years we have adapted and I figure we are all chiefs of our own tribes and we have certain roles in the company.`
Lorenzo said one of the best things about owning the business with his family is that he’s his own boss.
`When I was younger I worked for people and I always felt that I could do better than my bosses,` said Lorenzo. `I wasn’t happy working for other people, so when the time came for us to do our own thing, we choose to do our own thing and never looked back. There is nothing like being your own boss.`
When you are your own boss, though, economic pressures directly affect you and Franchi said the economy has subtracted a portion of their business.
`If one store is down you say, ‘Hey what is going on?’ but when all the stores across the board are down then you know it is the economy,` said Franchi.
Besides regular customers, he said business orders, which are usually rather large, have declined. When one of their stores loses a few business customers, he said, it could account for 10 to 15 percent of their revenue.
Cutting prices has never been answer for Franchi, because he thinks it is the `biggest mistake` a business can make. Also, sacrificing the quality of the product isn’t a solution either.
`We don’t skimp, we haven’t changed our product,` said Franchi. `We still keep the same best ingredients and try to ride the wave out. You take a salary cut just like everyone else does and you adapt.`
Every year Lorenzo goes to California to choose where they’re going to get their tomatoes. Also, their cheese is specially formulated for their pizzerias and their dough is made fresh every day. To appeal to technological advances they implemented an online ordering system, which is currently being reworked, for customers.
With their cheese specially made for their stores, it might not be a surprise Franchi and Lorenzo both said their favorite thing they sell is cheese pizza. The most ordered food choice is also known as `The Special,` which is two slices of cheese pizza and a soda for under $5.
`I don’t like to put a ton of toppings on my pizza, because you can’t really taste all the toppings,` said Lorenzo.
Their pies are also going to be reaching even more people in the future, because their next planned location for a new store is 1225 Central Avenue in Colonie, which will join their other store further up the street next year. Some other locations the two brothers said they are thinking about expanding their stores to are Niskayuna, Clifton Park and Delmar.
`We try to have a mom and pop shop with corporate smarts,` said Franchi.“
