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RR Brannstrom | The daily press staff at Papa Murphy’s in Escanaba fills orders on Friday evenings.
Editor’s note: The Daily Press will feature a series of articles about local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. This series will be serialized regularly in the Daily Press.
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ESCANABA — Papa Murphy’s has a style that sets it apart from other pizzerias. The take-and-bake business model originated on the West Coast and is popular in urban areas, but franchisee Michelle O’Connor believes it’s also suitable for rural and remote areas like the Upper Peninsula. Undercooked meals may not keep the product warm and fresh by the time it reaches your table.
For those unfamiliar with the Papa Murphy’s concept, pizza is assembled to the customer’s specifications with raw dough using fresh ingredients and served cold, wrapped, and completely uncooked. It is said that it will be handed over. In this way, franchise stores are like grocery stores or sandwich shops. Customers prepare their pizzas in their home ovens, eliminating travel time.
“This business model is great for this region because you don’t always live where you work.” said Michelle. “Maybe you want to eat later. You work at a hospital, your shift ends at 3 o’clock, you buy pizza, and you make it for your family at 6 o’clock. Or, I’m heading to a football game in the evening and want something to eat as soon as I get home, so I throw the pizza in the fridge and bake it when it’s ready. The concept is great.”
This plan was successfully executed by Papa Aldo’s Pizza, a chain that started in 1981 in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Murphy’s Pizza, which started in 1984 in Petaluma, California. In 1995, a guy named Terry Collins bought the pizza business and integrated it. two. Currently, Papa Murphy’s is based in Vancouver, Washington and has over 1,000 of his franchises in the United States, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
Michelle and Ray O’Connor own all four Papa Murphy’s locations in the UP, located in Escanaba, Iron Mountain, Marquette and Houghton. The Escanaba store was the first in UP and opened in 2003 under a different owner. The O’Connors opened a store in Iron Mountain in 2005, a store in Market in 2006, purchased and renovated a store in Escanaba in 2016, and opened a store in Houghton in 2017. did.
O’Connor’s employs approximately 50 people across four locations. Most are young people, such as college or high school students, but some have been with the company for a while and play important roles. This allows Michelle to focus on marketing, finance, and other administrative aspects of the business while Ray runs her own construction business and handles maintenance. Available.
“We have multiple staff members who travel to other stores to meet needs where they are needed. That has allowed us to keep our doors open for the past several years.” said Michelle.
Unlike other UP businesses that thrive in the summer due to increased tourism, Papa Murphy’s sees an uptick in business around back-to-school and football season, Michelle said. Michelle said Halloween is often the busiest day of the year. Employee Kara Beauvais said Friday and Tuesday nights are the busiest weekdays, the latter due to a promotion that only runs on Tuesdays.
Beauvais, who started working at Escanaba Papa Murphy’s in 2009, has recently taken on a role similar to regional manager. She said her job has become more difficult, but she is enjoying it.
“It’s a fun and positive work environment.” Beauvais said. “I enjoy going to work every day.”
When asked how she deals with stress when orders pile up, Beauvais says it’s easy to take orders online, in-store, over the phone and help other employees stay calm. I answered that.
“I feel like in a situation like that, people just need someone to give them direction and be positive about it. It’s just pizza. … That’s what we’re doing. We’re here to make pizza.”
Michelle, a former social worker, said the most enjoyable part of her job at Papa Murphy’s was interacting with people.
“The relationships, the young people I get a chance to mentor and work with, that’s what I love.” she said. “I really love the relationships and the people and that aspect of it.”
Beauvais cited the people as her favorite thing, adding that she loves working for Michel.
In addition to pizza, Papa Murphy’s also sells salads, drinks, desserts and, just introduced this year, single-serve calzones. Like pizza, calzones are meant to be baked at home. Papa Murphy’s is licensed like a grocery store, not a restaurant, and is not allowed to sell prepared products. Other new products include cinnamon wheels and cinnamon monkey bread and garlic monkey bread, which replace the classic cheese bread.
While it’s too early to predict what the franchisor will come up with for the future, Michelle has some ideas for what customers will see at Iron Mountain and Market in the near future. Both of these stores, which he opened in 2005 and 2006 respectively, are scheduled for renovation. She said updates to the facility are expected to occur in the next few years.
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