The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
New Marco’s Pizza opens
New Marco’s Pizza location in Painesville Township opens, future plans discussed.
Kirtland resident Joe Jaros definitely understands that hard work and sheer determination pays off.
The 38-year-old is a multi-unit franchise owner of six Marco’s Pizza locations.
He recently opened a store at 1444 Mentor Ave. in Painesville Township; has a store in Mentor-onthe-Lake and Willoughby; two locations in the Columbus area and one in Florida. Half of those stores were opened just last year.
Although the growth was exponential, Jaros explained that his success did not come effortlessly.
“It was my senior year and I was sitting in trigonometry and my buddy asked me to come deliver pizza at Marco’s,” he said. “I gave it a shot. I went up there, interviewed that day and got the job. I fell in love with the business. It was definitely something I enjoyed doing. It didn’t feel like work.”
Jaros said he always went above and beyond when delivering pizzas. He would change lightbulbs and shovel elderly customers’ driveways.
“People would request me as their delivery driver and I think that’s what got my manager’s attention,” he said.
He worked his way up from a delivery driver to a general manager and in 2001, became a partner in the Mentor-on-the-Lake location, according to a news release.
Jaros said he never forgot the opportunity that he was given and wanted to pay it forward.
“I was just fresh out of high school, I didn’t go to college and I didn’t have the capital to start a store, but someone believed in me and brought me into the business and allowed me to become a partner in their store,” he said.
Through an apprenticeship program, Jaros hires employees with potential and helps them grow in the business.
“I hire the best of the best,” he said. “I hire employees that will not only be great managers, but will also be great entrepreneurs and maybe they just don’t have the money to open a store because it costs $350,000 to open a store and most people just don’t have that kind of capital.”
He attributes his success to being surrounded by other positive people and continuously raising the standards.
“It wasn’t until I started surrounding myself around passionate people that we were able to grow the business and
“It was my senior year and I was sitting in trigonometry and my buddy asked me to come deliver pizza at Marco’s,” he said. “I gave it a shot. I went up there, interviewed that day and got the job. I fell in love with the business. It was definitely something I enjoyed doing. It didn’t feel like work.” — Joe Jaros, 38-year-old owner of six Marco’s Pizza restaurants, including a new franchise at 1444 Mentor Ave. in Painesville Township.
take it to the next level,” he said. “I realized there were some people that are better at running the business than me. I hired a director of operation who ran the Mentor store for a couple of years and during that time the two of us made a good team. We probably doubled the size of the business in those three years. The Mentor-on-theLake store was a below average unit volume to average volume store, and this year it’s going to be ranked third in the chain out of 870 stores.”
Jaros said being a franchise owner is not easy and not for everyone.
“This is a business where you are going to work open to close for the first three months, you will probably work 80 to 90 hours a week and you won’t have any time off,” he said.”I look for people that understand that and are willing to make that commitment, because that’s what it is going to take when opening a new store.”
Jaros said he is excited about the new Painesville Township location that they completely renovated.
Opened for just a few weeks, this location already has made an impact in the community by holding a fundraiser for a family whose home received significant damage in a Dec. 27 fire.
He said he plans to continue to open up several more stores, offer employees opportunities and give back to the community through a variety of philanthropic efforts.