Snow storm means big business for pizza delivery

NILES, Mich. – As a winter storm barreled down on Michiana Thursday night many people stayed in their homes to wait out the worst of the snow.  But, the delivery drivers at Pizza Transit on South 11th Street in Niles were hard at work carrying on a tradition to keep deliveries going through the worst of weather.

“When my dad used to run the place he was even braver than I was and would deliver in anything,” explained Pizza Transit Owner Sara Brittin.  “So we kind of always tried to keep the customers happy, it’s not fun to be stuck inside if you weren’t planning on it and didn’t plan something for dinner.”

As long as it’s safe, Brittin said the experienced delivery drivers will be on the road.  The drivers decide how long and how far they’ll deliver during storms.  Sometimes the restaurant will limit how far away they’ll deliver.  According to Brittin, the restaurant has never closed for bad weather even when most restaurants wouldn’t be operating.

“We’ve even stayed open before when our power went out because we have a gas oven so we’ve even hooked up flashlights and cooked in the dark because our oven was still hot,” Brittin described.  “A lot of people think we close down when the snow gets too bad, so they’re usually pretty excited that we’re still open.”

Phones were ringing off the hook for most of Thursday.  Delivery and carry-out pizzas are so popular that Pizza Transit offers “storm specials” during wicked weather.

“We keep everyone fed while they’re keeping track of how the snow’s doing, all the kids sitting at home hoping they’re getting that snow-day tomorrow,” Brittin explained while driving through Niles.  “I think the drivers usually end up a little bit happier because people try to make up for them having to come out in such bad weather.”

Drivers are equipped with all the necessary tools for travel in the snow.  As a Christmas gift they were all given snow shovels.  Brittin said she couldn’t recall any drivers being involved in accidents, but there have been some winter hang-ups.

“We had a driver stuck in someone’s driveway for a couple hours and that was a little scary,” she described.  “That’s about the worst situation we’ve had to deal with.”

Brittin said she was hoping for a snow-day on Friday, because kids home from school mean an increase in orders beyond the usual winter weather boom.