A couple of Dunedin Italian eateries have found new premises to expand their businesses. Shawn McAvinue talks to the owner of a pizzeria moving from the city to the suburbs for a bigger slice of the action and another who moved from the suburbs to the city.
Mamma Mia Pizza Takeaway owner Michal Rozenberg says he is relocating his pizzeria from premises at The Clean Carwash in Crawford St to a vacant Roslyn shop where Italian restaurant Zucchini Brothers used to be.
The business had outgrown the ''very restrictive'' 16sq m of floor space at the car wash pizzeria.
Before he opened the pizzeria four years ago, he had investigated opening the business in Roslyn, but Zucchini Brothers was selling pizzas in the suburb so he looked elsewhere.
When Zucchini Brothers moved to the Exchange last year, the lure of the suburb was renewed and he signed a contract for half the floor space of the former Zucchini Brothers.
The floorspace of the half the shop in Roslyn was about five times bigger than the car wash pizzeria.
The rental in Roslyn cost more but per square metre it was about half the price.
The business model would remain takeaway pizzas only so he could continue to run the business by himself.
His landlord had given him first option on the second half of the restaurant and he would wait to see the response of customers before he applied for a liquor licence or contemplated expanding the pizzeria, he said.
The Roslyn shop had always appealed to him.
''It's a little bit of brick, a little bit of concrete, a little bit of timber. I like this place, I like the atmosphere, I like the romance.''
He would continue selling pizza at the Otago Farmers Market and would see if he needed to continue driving a ute with his wood-fired pizza oven to summer events to keeping business turning over when Dunedin was quiet.
He hoped the Roslyn residents stayed in Dunedin and would continued buying pizzas over the summer months.
Residents living near the car wash were transient and he believed he would sell more pizzas in Roslyn, which was a ''bit more affluent''.
''You have more foot traffic in Roslyn plus it's a nice neighbourhood with good buying power.''
Many residents in the hill suburbs preferred to dine near their homes.
''There is always the hesitation of leaving the mountains and coming to the city centre.''
Mr Rozenberg said the car wash pizzeria would close next weekend, and he would open in Roslyn the following week.
Zucchini Brothers owners Roger and Rachel Smith said the Roslyn shop had been a pizzeria since the early 1980s.
The couple bought the restaurant Italian Express in 1994 and signed a 12-year lease for the Roslyn shop. When that expired, they signed another six-year lease.
Then the landlord offered a short-term lease, so the couple decided to move the business to the Exchange in August last year.
The new restaurant in the Bing Harris building in Princes St had an 18-year lease which provided greater security for the business.
''Without that security you don't have a business. You certainly have nothing to sell if you want to move on and it's hard to plan for the future.''
The business needed to move to grow and the new restaurant could seat at least twice as many people, he said.
Mr Smith believed Mr Rozenberg had made a good move, moving his business to Roslyn.
''It is a great suburb to do business in ... it should go well for him.''
The demand for pizza in Roslyn was ''consistent'' through the year.
''We were up there 19 years and the last 10 years were pretty steady.''
Mrs Smith said the holiday seasons for about the first 10 years of business in Roslyn was ''diabolical''.
''The whole neighbourhood would evacuate and go to winter and summer holiday destinations but in recent times we didn't notice the same drop-off.''
More tourists were eating in Dunedin in the past 10 years.
In the new restaurant, most people dining were staying in nearby hotels - tourists and business people, she said.
''A lot of our regulars followed us but it is amazing how many people are coming to Dunedin as tourists or for business and staying in the hotels. It's great.''
Mr Smith said the rejuvenated Exchange area was a good place to own a restaurant: ''It has been a really good first year. It was better than expected. We are pretty delighted.''
''And relieved,'' Mrs Smith added.
