Higher gas prices affect town
Cost of pizza rises, residents to see affects
by SHANNON O'SULLIVAN Student Correspondent

Amherst pizzerias raised prices recently because the cost of flour has increased dramatically in the past year.

Rising wheat prices caused the price of flour to more than double, according to several Amherst pizzeria managers.

At Dino's Bocce Club Pizza, at 4174 N. Bailey Ave., the price of flour was around $15 last year for a 50-pound bag and jumped to more than $30, said manager Steve Houck. Bocce Club is still eating some of the costs despite raising prices in early April.

"We've gone up approximately $1 a pizza, which is comparable to others in the area," Houck said. "As far as the bottom line, we've been hurting, but there's been a lot of contributing factors."

The slumping economy causes people to eat out less, and more pizzerias exist now than 10 years ago, creating stiffer competition, he said. He attributes the increase in wheat prices to high transportation costs, growing demand for wheat from China and farmers planting corn for ethanol instead of wheat.

Jason Majewski, owner of Pizza Works Etc., at 712 Maple Road, raised the price of a large, one-topping pizza from $10.99 to $13.99 within the last month because of the high cost of flour. Business has dropped because customers have noticed the price increases, especially for their regular specials, Majewski said.

"I had a lady arguing with us today about how our $10.99 special is now $13.99," he said. "Gas alone should tell them prices are going up - my food has to get here somehow."

Ryan Humphrey, a 24-year-old student at Daemen College, orders regularly from Pizza Works and noticed the price jump. He now orders pizza every other week instead of every week to save money.

"Now even a couple bucks is pretty steep for a student," said Humphrey, a Williamsville resident, before picking up his order.

Not all Pizza Works customers have cut back. John Kozlowski of North Tonawanda has enough room in his budget to afford the few extra dollars. The price increases didn't surprise him because of high gas costs, Kozlowski said, before entering Pizza Works on a recent evening.

"It makes sense that prices are going up," he said.

Illya Lasting has owned Palladino's Pizzeria in the Sheridan Harlem Plaza for more than a year and a half. A 25-pound bag of flour cost $5.50 when he first bought the business and tripled to about $17, Lasting said. He recently raised prices across the board between 5 and 8 percent to compensate, which has affected business.

"I'd say business is down year over year from our numbers compared to last year," he said.

He emphasized that the volume of customers has decreased, but profits grew from last year.

Franco's Pizza at 1924 Eggert Road updated its menu approximately two months ago with a small percentage increase in prices because of the high cost of flour, said general manager Stacey Gempko.

Gempko anticipates that Franco's will update the menu again by the end of May, reflecting an increase of approximately 8 percent. Despite the increased prices, business at that Franco's location has not decreased significantly, she said.

For some Franco's customers, such as Ed Jordan, who was picking up his weekly order on a recent evening, the decision to stop buying pizza regularly depends on one thing.

"If I can't afford it, I won't," said Jordan, who is self-employed.