By Jonathan Maze
Nation's Restaurant News, June 8, 2016
It’s one thing to love your job. It’s another to love your job so much that you’re willing to have your company tattooed to your skin. But that is indeed what’s happened with &pizza, the fast growing, Washington DC-based pizza chain — where a company tattoo is a unique benefit. About 50 workers have the company’s ampersand logo somewhere on their person.
“It really started about four years ago, when I was working in the first pizza shop,” CEO Michael Lastoria said. “We just developed a strong bond and love and affinity for the brand." ...
It’s not just tattoos, however. The chain is rapidly expanding, with expectations to grow from 15 locations now to 21 by the end of the year. It wants to hire from within, but to do that it needs a culture that values employees and encourages them to stay and move into management positions. ...
&pizza, founded in 2012, is among a number of smaller, growth chains that are out front on their willingness to pay higher wages and even their support for a higher minimum wage. ...
“I would say a great deal of &pizza’s success could be directly attributed to our tribe members — our employees,” he said, noting that the company calls its workforce a “tribe.” “By feeling appreciated, engaged, supported and valued, they really go the extra mile when it comes to guest service and guest intimacy. It would make sense that we would do everything in our power to incentive workers and pay above what the federal and state mandated minimum wage would be.” ...
"... As we’ve increased wages, we’ve seen higher productivity and more ownership in our shops from our tribe. More of the labor force has converted from part time to full time, and more have converted from part time to salary.” ...
Copyright 2016 Penton