|
|
 |
 |
 |
| On
Immigrating: |
On Extended
Family: |
On
Standards: |
"It was
tough. I
didn't speak English and there was no job.
...In 1961, it was
worse than today." |
"My
wife tells me,
'You treat your employees like your kids.'....I try to help everybody." |
"Never
go down in quality. That's the
trick. If you change, always change to something better." |
Riccioni has also developed close relationships with his employees. Along with numerous
family members who are associated with him (including his daughter Filomena, who abandoned
thoughts of a career in law to join the family business as general manager), Riccioni
regards all his employees as extended family. "My wife gets mad with me
sometimes," he says, "she tells me, 'You know, you treat your employees like
your kids.' And I say, 'Yeah, you have to do that. You don't help, they might go get
into trouble.' I try to help everybody. A customer comes, a lot of times, he
asks for help with a problem, I help him, too."
Riccioni's family ties have led him, after years of resistance, to take his first steps in expanding
Wedgewood Pizza to cope with the demand of customers who drive as far as 50 miles for a taste
of his product. His nephew, Anthony Pelligrini, will soon take on the first Wedgewood Pizza
franchise in a location suited to meet that cross-county demand.
At a cost close to $750,000, the new shop will mimic much of the original Wedgewood's
layout and operational design. But this one, rather than being an adaptation to an
existing building, will be the fruit of a quarter-century's experience in making
Riccioni's high-volume operation the success it has become. Riccioni fully expects
the shop to generate the same income as the original location.
As for Fernando Riccioni himself? Into the foreseeable future you'll probably find
him right there in front of the ovens eyeing each pie that goes in or out, hustling to add
a little more pepperoni here, a few more sausage bits there, giving away a pie when the
urge strikes him, and rousing the troops with his infectious enthusiasm for food, family
and life. |
