Delivery drivers on the job despite snow

If the combination of snowy, freezing weather this weekend had you reaching for the phone instead of the oven mitts, you weren't alone. Chances are, you were dialing up one of the local pizza joints or other places that bring goodies to your door.

Both Cape Girardeau Domino's pizza stores raked in the dough this weekend, despite only being available for pickup Friday. Deliveries started about 5 p.m. that day.

"[Saturday] I think we broke our sales record ... for one day," said Bryan LaPlante, general manager of the Domino's Pizza at 1028 Sprigg St.

LaPlante, who has been with the store for 17 years, said he doesn't know how many pizzas it took to break the sales record, but it was "a lot."

Additionally, the chain is running a 50 percent-off special online, which was destined to make it a busy week anyway, LaPlante said.

Imo's Pizza delivery driver David Patterson walks to his car on his way to deliver an order Saturday, Dec. 7, in Cape Girardeau. (Adam Vogler)

Duane Fenwick, assistant manager at the Domino's at 1410 N. Kingshighway, said Saturday was the busiest he'd seen in four years. On Sunday afternoon, the store ran out of ingredients so a run was made to area stores closed because of weather and up to St. Louis for supplies, he said.

"Yesterday, it was like crazy, so busy. Today it's been about a normal Sunday," Fenwick said, adding it would probably get busy again about 5:30 p.m.

He said only three people made it in Friday.

"We got all we could get," Fenwick said.

Carissa Caton, manager of Imo's Pizza at 1201 Broadway, said Friday was the "busiest day I've ever worked" in her three years with the outlet. Saturday was more like a normal business day.

Imo's Pizza delivery driver David Patterson gets in his car on his way to deliver an order Saturday, Dec. 7, in Cape Girardeau. (Adam Vogler)

Being right across from Southeast Missouri State University, one might assume that was where most of the orders came from, but Caton said it was pretty evenly split between on- and off-campus calls. However, she said, "there were definitely plenty of orders at the campus."

Although Little Caesars, 97 N. Kingshighway, doesn't deliver, shift leader Terra Fowlkes said Friday's business was brisk.

"Friday morning we were like the only place that was open and we were really, really busy. It [the weather] didn't stop anyone from getting out," Fowlkes said.

At Jimmy John's, 1800 Broadway, sales normally break down to 40 percent delivery orders, including online requests, Jared DeClue, one of the managers, said in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

" ... As you can imagine, that percentage was significantly higher Friday and Saturday," he said. "We expect that trend to continue until the weather conditions become less severe."

Because of the closings of other restaurants, the email said, orders were "rolling in one right after the other with our phones ringing off the hook," DeClue said. Customers were "very understanding" about the situation and longer-than-usual delivery times, he wrote.

"We heard from our customers who called and noticed that social media played a large role in spreading the word that we were open and delivering," DeClue said. "This resulted in many customers taking advantage of our online ordering, our mobile app, contributing to orders increasing throughout the day Friday and into the weekend."

Streets were difficult to make it through, so if drivers were unable to make it up certain streets, they parked their cars and made deliveries on foot, DeClue said.

Although China Palace, 2123 Broadway, wasn't open Friday, owner John Cai said he received about 25 percent more phone calls than usual.

"I had a lot of phone calls and missed calls. I looked at the caller ID and there were at least 60 phone calls," Cai said.

The momentum rolled through the rest of the weekend, he said. "We're busy for delivery now," said Cai, who was making a delivery himself on Sunday.

Short-staffed?

While the weather induced pizza cravings, some restaurants and delivery outlets experienced staff shortages, or slow business, because of storm conditions.

"We were really short-handed for workers because of where they lived," said Fowlkes of Little Caesars. Conversely, when the weather calmed down Saturday, business was slower, she said.

Asked if any managers had to be recruited to help deliver the past couple of days, LaPlante of the Domino's Pizza said managers were busy inside making food, so they couldn't be spared for driving.

"We love breaking records, and we love the business. Whenever it does now, or even rains, we expect to be busier," he said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent addresses:

1028 Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1410 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1201 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

97 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1800 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2123 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.