FAIRPORT, N.Y. (WROC) — Halloween isn’t just about costumes and candy. For pizzerias across the country, it’s one of the busiest days of the year, and Mark’s Pizzeria is preparing for a major rush.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, employees are gearing up to make thousands of pizzas as families celebrate the holiday.
“Some of our stores could be over 400, close to 500 pizzas. Across the chain, we could sell like 4,500 pizzas,” said Marc Parina, vice president of Mark’s Pizzeria.
At the Fairport location, General Manager Rob Cunningham said the restaurant brought in nearly $14,000 in sales last Halloween. He expects business to be even busier this year, especially with the holiday falling on a weekend.
And with that kind of demand, preparation is key.
When News 8 visited the restaurant, employees were already hard at work preparing orders, with tickets piling up ahead of the evening rush.
“People get a lot of pre-orders in. You can see on the rack over there, there’s a lot of slips that people have already ordered,” Parina said. “So right now, it’s just trying to prepare as much as we can, so we can have everything fresh.”
Despite rising costs, Parina said the chain has kept most of its prices consistent with last year, with only minor increases on select pizzas.
“This year, there was a small increase on just a couple pizzas, but other things we kept the same, like our chicken wings and combo add-ons,” Parina said.
As employees work to keep up with the Halloween demand, Cunningham is asking customers to pack a little patience along with their costumes.
“It’s one of those days where we’re not going to be able to do everything all at once. We kind of have to start getting ready ahead of time,” Cunningham said.
He also encouraged customers picking up their pizzas to have their order codes ready to help keep lines moving.
For Mark’s Pizzeria, Halloween means more than ghosts, goblins and trick-or-treaters. It means thousands of pizzas heading out the door.
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