NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Forty-five years ago, Joe Seminara took a family pizza recipe and laid the foundation of a thriving business that today spans 10 counties.
“It was pretty much my mother’s recipe,” says Seminara, today the president and CEO of Pizza Joe’s, based in New Castle. “She used to make pizza in our kitchen. People used to bring flour in and ask her to make them pizzas,” he recalls. His aunt also operated a pizza shop in Youngstown along Indianola Avenue.
Pizza Joe’s has grown from a small operation along West State Street to an expansive brand with 38 franchise locations in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Within four years of opening his first store, Seminara had started three additional shops under his ownership. Then, in 1985, a friend of his from school proposed purchasing the first franchise location – a Pizza Joe’s in Ellwood City, Pa. “He’s still there,” Seminara says. “He has 40 years in right now.”
The business has blossomed into a true family affair. Joe’s daughter, Jessica Tomczyk, is today the company’s chief operating officer. His son, Andrew, is also in management.
Tomczyk says several other Pizza Joe’s franchises are at least 30 years old and others are in their 25th year of operation. “Quite a few of these are multigeneration franchises,” she says.
The Ellwood City franchise owner, for example, has two daughters that manage different locations, Tomczyk says. “They both have their children involved.”
Tomczyk says Pizza Joe’s locations are found in Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, Franklin, Beaver and Crawford counties in western Pennsylvania, and Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties in Ohio.
“It’s a good way of life if you’re into working for yourself and working hard. It can be profitable,” Tomczyk says.
The key ingredient to success – and what sets the business apart from national chains – is to make an excellent product in a nice environment with good service.
Seminara says word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising, noting that if customers have a pleasant experience, they’re likely to return. “A guy walked in the other day, he’s 86 years old, but I remember him walking through the door 45 years ago. People still love it.”
Pictured at top: Joe Seminara, president and CEO of Pizza Joe’s, with his daughter, Jessica Tomczyk, chief operating officer.
