Special offer

Pizza by Alex, Biddeford, Maine

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Maine Custom Realty

I've got to write about a small business in Biddeford, Maine that intrigues me to no end every time I go there.  It's a pizza shop.  Yup, just a pizza shop.  And not only is it a pizza shop...that's all they sell !!...go figure.  No salad, no sandwiches, no french fries, no bags of chips...NUTHIN' ELSE.  Oh, sorry, they sell drinks from a fountain tap...about 6 flavors or so.  So, that's it...drinks & pizza.  And to narrow it down, they only sell a personal size pizza...ONE SIZE!! THAT''S IT. Pizza By Alex

Now, what I find amazing is this establishment has been around for 50 years selling nothing but a personal pie & a drink.  When I look at all the other food businesses around these parts, they tend to keep adding things to their menu and 'super-sizing' what they already have and their advertising budgets must be huge as they are on tv, and print, almost everywhere...NOT ALEX...no advertising at all, ever...(at least I've never seen an Alex ad).  I guess institutions don't need to advertise.

I was introduced to Pizza by Alex 17 years ago. (affectionately called Alex Pizza around here) In that time, not a thing has changed.  It had tables & chairs and wood paneling then and it has tables & chairs and wood paneling now...I expect it had tables & chairs and wood paneling 50 years ago.  That's not to say it's a run down kind of place because it isn't at all.  It's well-kept, clean & neat...ALWAYS.  The cooking is done right in front of you.  I'm a virtual outsider to all that is Alex Pizza.  I grew up about 15 miles away and never knew it existed until I met my wife.  So, when I go in there, it is a cultural experience. 

The locals, when they order their pizza, ask to have their pies cooked in the "old ovens".  They claim it browns up the crust on the bottom the way they like it.  There are people all over this country who have had an Alex Pizza and, when they come back to Maine, will drive several miles to go to Biddeford and have a pie there.   Alex Pizza

Their secret, as it is told to me, is Alex Pizza uses a blend of cheese mixed in their dough.  At this point, this is folklore as it has never been confirmed to me by anyone in a lab.  Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, I just enjoy eating them.  When I'm there, I often try to do some down & dirty pizza logistics by counting the customers and estimating their daily pie sales, which is futile, as the mad rush to Alex after a Biddeford Tigers game in the Fall would throw my estimates way off anyway.  I just know Alex is a gold mine but, unless they go public, there's just no way to be privy to their sales numbers.  Now that's an IPO I would buy in a second.

I'm certain there is much to be gleaned about how to run a business from this little hole-in-the-wall institution but that would get in the way of just sitting there and speculating about their tremendous success, and, of course, enjoying the best pizza I've ever had.

 

 

Comments (1)

Anonymous
Shawn

I know this is an old post but I gotta say the locals are 100% right. I know cuz I lived in the apartment above that place years ago so I used to be there 90% of my childhood life lol. I am sorry to say now I am too far away to go. I miss it..............

Nov 09, 2014 05:11 PM
#1