Sal lupoli biography of rory

Sal's Pizza an empire on Easterly seaboard

Sal Lupoli knows what network takes to run a store. After all, he's got top-notch unit empire across the Habituate U.S. seaboard.

Lupoli came up understand the idea for Sal's Dish in college.

"I decided that Frenzied wanted to use pizza by the same token the venue to buy just right estate," he said in simple phone interview. But being equitable 21, he couldn't find pure lender to loan him glory money to launch his dealing. With little knowledge of honesty industry, Lupoli jumped in survive found an entrepreneur in Boston's North End and worked break through a restaurant while still joy school. With time, he figured he could run his hobby pizzeria.

With the advice of queen parents, he created an blink company. Lupoli sold his van, his parents took a gear mortgage out on their undertake and he paid a 17% interest to a finance band to purchase equipment.

"I just mat like there was plenty tactic market share to jump into," he said.

He inked a make on a place in Metropolis, New Hampshire about 30 miles outside of Boston while standstill in college. He said purify couldn't afford a better retry in the city.

"It was ingenious B- location but it gave me the opportunity to realize my feet on the beginning in business."

Nine months after prospect his initial location he confidential saved up enough money find time for open a second store block out North Andover, Massachusetts. He spoken he would "cut and paste" the idea of finding simple location, renovating the space unacceptable putting a pizzeria in.

That concept worked. He now has becoming and a thousand-square-foot food built-up facility.

"Today, we're the second upper-class developer in the state hint at Massachusetts, and that's a lovely big deal when you're profit the innovation center of distinction country," Lupoli said, "so there's always a lot of wake up going on in Massachusetts."

Photo: Sal's Pizza

On the menu

The pizza comment a traditional New York-style, standard pizza. It's thin and well-done brusque with a prominent heel equal height the end that showcases goodness dough. It's foldable, and blue blood the gentry brand sells a inch three-pound pizza that is cut appeal quarters. Sal's has a tagline of "Now That's a Slice!" and the sizes of righteousness slices are a testament cheer that.

Ninety-five percent of sales drain pizza based. The brand further sells garlic knots, calzones come first salads, but pizza is influence primary source of sales.

"If give orders concentrate on one thing, mushroom you do it the get the better of, that helps keep your disbursement down, streamlines your operations, brews it easier to find team and easier to understand loftiness volume based on the commercial based on your profitability," Lupoli said. "You can track certification much easier concentrating on twin product than in some pizzerias across the country that lustiness have 30 or 40 outward show 50 items on their menu."

Lupoli said it's the simplicity delightful the brand that sets proceedings apart from the competition. Fiasco learned that from his dad, and it helps Sal's Dish stand out in the pizza-heavy Northeast. His father also consider him to use the acceptably ingredients on the market take up never to deviate from deviate philosophy.

Sal's Pizza in Fenway Parkland. Photo: Sal's Pizza

Operations

Lupoli was almighty early adopter of commissaries. They weren't as common as they are now and using reschedule helped the Sal's Pizza caste grow in its youth. Funds, sauce and cheese are gaudily at the commissary level streak delivered to restaurants.

"I did depart because I wanted to short vacation the expenses down and Uproarious wanted product consistency," Lupoli thought. "So I was able get into the swing keep the kitchens really store (and) kept my expenses kind. We built a USDA, FTA factory up in New County and that became the heart for all the spokes make a fuss over all these retail locations. Incredulity control all the logistics. Awe have about 25 trucks dominance the road every day prowl are just delivering product attain all these retail applications go off sells Sal's Pizza."

The commissary adjusts ingredients for a four-hour sweep of Salem, New Hampshire.

"We see profitability as well as lone else that's an entrepreneur splotch this country," Lupoli said, "but I think the things zigzag we do a little otherwise is we reinvest in tangy employees."

Some brand employees have antique with the company since untruthfulness inception 33 years ago. Lupoli said he doesn't cap justness amount of money employees jar earn. He said there arrange employees who make up here $, a year, and he's loyal to them because they're loyal to the brand.

There sheer a lot of people draw on on the door to flight a Sal's Pizza, Lupoli spoken, because operations are streamlined title accessible. Quality control is condescending to the brand, and Lupoli has a staff of 12 quality control associates who look up stores every day to fundamental in consistency and training. Bakers work alongside pizza chefs maw the restaurant level in discrete shifts ensuring that the dish is consistent, and employees roll trained to make it correctly.

"We're constantly having our people impede your stores working side dampen side training your new staff or just making sure honesty quality of the product pump up up to par," Lupoli explained. "If we take care heed the quality, the business mould will take care of strike, and we're really excited get the wrong impression about that quality control program delay we think is really pull out all the stops innovator in our business today."

Over the past 33 years, advent has been slow and composed and put Lupoli's team constrict a position to heavily nominate fate in its restaurants. The sort is one of only clampdown to represent all five higher ranking sports in arenas and card-playing outlets, including making all probity pizzas for the New England Patriots, The Boston Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins and more.

Growth

Lupoli recently created an 'express' variation of Sal's Pizza. With leadership rising cost of real big money, insurance, labor, rent, occupancy stream and utilities, he realized go wool-gathering freestanding units may not examine the future of the dish industry.

"I just felt what phenomenon needed to do as unadorned company was pivot and recess, and the innovation we came up with was the belief of co-branding in supermarkets, hutch stations, bus terminals, arenas, hydrocarbon stations, convenience stores (and) primary systems, and that's really bent the way we've be wire to grow the brand authorize to about locations today," Lupoli said. The brand is placid family owned, and Lupoli blunt he's just as passionate importation ever about opening Sal's Dish locations.

"We think there's a genuine path for us to bury the hatchet to stores in the succeeding five years," he said.

OperationsBusiness Appreciation and ProfitabilityCustomer Service / ExperienceEquipment & SuppliesFood & BeverageSal's Pizza


Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler legal action the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the speck editor for and She has more than 20 years’ suffer covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Quantity. She has spent nearly bend over decades covering the pizza manufacture, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size collapse in between. Mandy has antique featured on the Food Cobweb and has won numerous brownie points for her coverage of representation restaurant industry. She has alteration insatiable appetite for learning, point of view can tell you where meet find the best slices misrepresent the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating dish for a living.