Sadly, last night was Big Daddy's last night. He is closing the doors of the pizza joint. Located in the small town of Three Oaks, MI (where my shop is) he is just losing money. Too much to stay open any longer.
This is really sad, not only for John (aka Big Daddy) but for our town. It's just another sad sight of businesses closing due to this economy. But what really gets me, what really has made me mad enough to sit down in the middle of prepping the dinner for tomorrow's seder and write, is the fact that a lot of this has to do with people saving $2 and buying from a large, national, chain (one I won't mention but let's say it rhymes with mutt.) In talking with people around the town, I've found out that a lot of locals just bought into their $10 pizza deal, and stopped buying our local pizza. John's pizzas are not expensive, mind you. But yes, they are $2 more. But they are also delicious, made by hand, and do I need to mention again that he knows me by my VOICE?
Without ranting like a crazy person, let me please just ask you to try and spend the extra $2 to buy local. I'm not asking you to always do this. I understand how the recession has affected US ALL, but when it comes to something like buying food from a local owned grocery store, or (obviously) shopping at farmer's markets, or trying to just support your local business owners. It's worth the extra few dollars to keep these businesses going. Otherwise, we'll end up in a world where the only place to shop is Walmart.
And I for one don't want to live in that world.
I miss good pizza! It is so sad to have a good joint closes. People if we don't start focusing our attention on the small stores pretty soon you will not have the opportunity to choose. It will all taste the same. Who wants to choose between Pizza Hut or Papa John's? Not me, I'd rather it be made by a person and not a corporation. -SW
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. We too enjoyed our last Big Daddy pizza last night. Soo good. Soo sad.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Big Daddy's was closing. That's the fourth pizza place to come and go in that building since I've been around, and I'm pretty young. I have a lot of pride in my home town, but it's a pretty sad sight. The extra money is worth supporting people you probably live within a few miles of.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I didn't read this a week ago-we made a point of making a two hour drive several times a year to get one of his pizzas. Always great food and great people. One of our summer rituals was driving up to hit the silverhawks games in SB, and then catching a pizza and ice cream afterwards. We drove through today for our first trip back up to the lake for the year and were crushed. Here's hoping Big Daddy's back soon somewhere, and that the big corporations all go to h*ll!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you had to get the crushing blow that way! There is talk of John going elsewhere, so we all have our fingers crossed. AND...rumor has it he'll be cooking up pies for my extreme beer fest in May!
We were so upset when we stopped by last night to have some of John's famous ribs! I am in shock that people who live minutes from this place didn't realize how lucky they were! Everything homemade, fresh ground sausage, he even had SPECIAL pans made for pete's sake! Pounds of cheese(need I say more)! How can saving a few bucks at a crappy cardboard chain really matter more folks! John always sat with us when we ate, great stories of what new ideas he was coming up with. My dad LOVED to go here with us and he lives 3 hours away! I am heartbroken that this happened to such a good man,
ReplyDeleteWAKE UP LOCALS, these people won't be around if we don't support them! Friendly service from people who know you and quality are worth so much more than a buck!
note- It cost MORE than $2 in gas to drive and get that cardboard!
ReplyDelete