‘Business has doubled’
As snow piles climb, so does demand for food delivery in city
NORWALK — On the average day, Planet Pizza on Main Avenue has three or four delivery drivers per shift, but on Thursday owner Dave Kuban had 10 drivers on the job as the restaurant faced an influx in orders due to the snowstorm.
It’s a scenario many businesses are used to after experiencing an uptick in delivery orders since the coronavirus forced limitations on dine-in options for customers this year. But even by pandemic standards, Kuban was impressed with the demand.
“Yesterday and today, business has doubled,” he said. “They’ve all been deliveries.”
Before the pandemic, Kuban said business was split about 60 percent deliveries and 40 percent pickup
orders. Since COVID-19’s arrival, the balance has shifted to 70 percent deliveries and 30 percent pickup.
“But yesterday and today it’s been 95 percent deliveries,” Kuban said.
He believes the increase in deliveries for Planet Pizza is due in part to the wide radius to which the restaurant delivers. While the store is based in Norwalk, he said the drivers deliver as far as Weston and Redding.
But with more business during a snowstorm also comes more danger, as drivers navigate slippery conditions and other road hazards. The drives can be far and treacherous in inclement weather, but Kuban said his employees are professionals.
“This is what they do for a living,” he said. “They all have cars like Subaru Forresters and Jeep Wranglers that can handle this kind of weather. This is normal for us.”
Between 8 and 10 inches of snow accumulated in Norwalk, since the storm began Wednesday evening and ceased around 11 a.m. Thursday, city communications manager Josh Morgan said.
The storm caused city buildings to close, including the library, and school to be canceled. An emergency snow alert was announced by Mayor Harry Rilling, with a parking ban on certain streets.
The Jordan’s Restaurant and Pizza location on Westport Avenue also received many delivery orders during the storm, but not many more than usual, employee Nicole Mancilla said. The main concern for Jordan’s was the lack of available or willing drivers.
The Westport Avenue location was down to a lone driver Thursday afternoon.
Normally, the restaurant has three or four drivers at a time, Mancilla said.
Some orders were turned away due to the short staff or the remote delivery location. Orders came in from areas of the city not yet plowed, meaning the driver was unable to reach the customer, Mancilla said.
“So far, everyone has been pretty understanding but there’s not much we can do,” she said.
At Jordan’s second location, on Flax Hill Road, deliveries began at 2 p.m. due to the lack of drivers, employee Amy Zamora said. Normally, deliveries began at 11 a.m.
Unlike the first Jordan’s location, however, the Flax Hill spot had four drivers on staff Thursday, Zamora said. While deliveries had not yet begun, Zamora said she expected Thursday to be a busy one.