Sunday, September 14, 2008
Pizza prices on the rise
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
Pizza is what many consider to be a quick and relatively inexpensive dining option.
It doesn't get much cheaper than Little Caesars' Hot-N-Ready pizzas, which are prepared ahead of time and can be picked up in a moment's notice, even at the eatery's drive-through window.
The chain rolled out these $5 large pizzas on its menus in 2002. The price jumped to $5.55 last year for pies with pepperoni and extra cheese toppings.
And last week, the cost went up again. With tax, you'll now pay more than $6 for the restaurant's signature pizza. The price is $5.99 at Little Caesars franchises in Southwest Virginia.
It's because cheese, dough and pepperoni costs are rising fast.
Other economic factors, such as minimum wage increases and utility costs, aren't helping, said Patrick O'Connell, president and co-owner of Aces LLC, a Little Caesars franchise company based in Rocky Mount. It owns 20 locations across Southwest Virginia, including eateries in the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg and Wytheville.
O'Connell said his company was trying to keep the pizza's cost at $5.55, but it could not continue to absorb the increases.
"It's hard to find a $5 pizza," he said. "It's been a tough environment with prices and our costs rising."
From pizza eateries to fast food and fine dining establishments, food price increases are inflicting restaurants nationwide.
Restaurateurs are raising menu prices and studying how they can prepare the same meals for less. High prices for some foods, such as beef, are a result of heightened demand for corn, used in animal feed, to make ethanol. Also, rising gasoline prices have led to surcharges on certain goods.
In the past 18 months, cheese prices have nearly doubled at Little Caesars, O'Connell said. And the Hot-N-Ready pizzas aren't the only pies feeling the heat. A supreme Hot-N-Ready pizza at Little Caesars now is $8.99, compared with $8.55.
This chain is not the only local restaurant afflicted by cost increases. A Salem pizza eatery, Humble Pie Pizza, expects to raise its prices early next year. Wheat and cheese costs have doubled since last year, said owner Jeremy Foster.
Higher food prices are scrimping the restaurant's budget, particularly as it continues its "buy one pizza, get one free" deal. Foster said he plans to keep the deal going, but "we're definitely going to have to do it [raise pizza prices]."
Yum Brands, a national restaurant company, also is warning consumers that it likely will raise menu prices next year because of growing commodity costs. Its restaurants include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Long John Silver's.
Wireless Zone
Wireless Zone is taking a spot at a retail center under construction on U.S. 220 in Roanoke.
This franchise of Verizon Wireless, selling Verizon products and services, will move into a space at Hunting Hills Station, a 4,700-square-foot center near Starbucks and Home Depot.
The new store is expected to open by mid-October, said Brian Brady, a franchisee, who along with John Whitaker owns Wireless Zone at Towers Shopping Center.
El Toreo
A former BB&T bank building on Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke no longer is slated for a Mexican eatery. The owners of a local Mexican restaurant chain, who own the site beside Applebee's, have bagged their plans to open an El Toreo eatery there.
Instead, they are trying to sell the structure or lease it to another retailer, said Agustin Arellano, one of the owners.
The 2006 opening of Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy at the District at Valley View, which is near the site, is one reason the owners decided against opening an El Toreo there.
"It would be too many Mexican eateries in that area," Arellano said.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/storefront/:
- Imagination Station Toys & Furniture's Roanoke store has closed.
- Whitehall Jewelers at Valley View Mall is closing, along with other Whitehall stores nationwide.
- SpaVa Premier Day Spa's new location on Franklin Road in Roanoke will open Saturday.
