A pizzeria in Plano has seen dramatically increased business thanks to help from local moms in the neighborhood, NBC Chicago’s Regina Waldroup reports.
When Steven Oleksy's pizza restaurant was struggling, he posted a question on social media. But what happened in response was something he never expected.
And it was all thanks to a group of moms.
Oleksy, who fancies himself a pizza connoisseur, spent time as a mechanic in the Marines before deciding to use his hands for pizza-making instead. He opened his restaurant, Planet Pizza, in Plano, just over two years ago.
But the business hasn't been performing well. Last Thursday, during the dinner rush, Planet Pizza had not one customer.
“It was kind of sad, I did not have a single customer,” Oleksy said.
So, he decided to make a Facebook post.
“The post said that my competitors are super busy. What can I do for the community to drum up sales?” he told NBC Chicago.
Local
The post was eventually seen by someone in the Yorkville Area Moms Facebook group, also known as YAMS. Oleksy's post was then shared to the group, which has over 12,000 members.
“One of the moms took that post and shared it into the YAMS group, and it just blew up,” said Andie Groff, a member of the group. “We have great women in our community, and when they take a minute to lift up somebody else, everybody rallies around them. If every community did this, the whole world would be a different place.”
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
The impact was immediate. Oleksy said within an hour, the phone was ringing with orders and they haven’t stopped since.
On Friday, the restaurant had to turn customers away the demand was so high.
"Due to the overwhelming response of our community, order pick up times and delivery times were a little slower this evening. We are super excited that you guys are ready to try Planet Pizza, and we thank you for your patience!" a post on the restaurant's page read. "We apologize to all customers we had to turn away tonight. We hope that you will give us another try in the future."
The surge highlighted the power of a single social media post, shared by thousands of caring moms.
“I’m really appreciative of what they have done for me and my business,” he said. “I could not be any happier. I am very appreciative of YAMS.”
“I’m hoping business keeps coming in, and I can get staff to finally make this into something,” he added.
