New research from the University of Florida shows that local businesses, particularly pizza shops, can compete with large chain restaurants.
Researchers at UF interviewed owners of local Gainesville pizza places, such as Satchel's Pizza, to understand how they succeed. The key, they found, lies in offering a sense of place and a unique experience.
Avi Ackerman, who helped conduct the study, said, "From these interviews, I've also seen there's no one way to becoming a pizza restaurant owner. We have Satchel's, who's an artist. We have Square House Pizza, where the owner is big into music and loves punk rock. The owner of Regan was in the Navy and used his engineering background to create a science behind making pizza dough, modifying certain ingredients by specific percentages."
According to Dataessential, as of 2023, over 5,000 independent pizza restaurants are competing in Florida.