In a city known for its delicious deep-dish, a one-time pizza deliverer is trying to get his piece of the pie.
His recipe is simple: cheap, panned pizza, quick delivery, a dash of passion and an effort to put “a face to the brand.”
“When people think NU Domino’s, they’re going to think Ramon right away,” said Ramon De Leon, the owner of the Domino’s Pizza franchise at 1168 Dodge Ave. “When people come up with a party, they’re going to think ‘We’re going to need to call Ramon from Domino’s Pizza.'”
De Leon, who owns seven Domino’s locations – six in Chicago – said he’s determined to make his the pizza of choice among Northwestern students. To do so, he is providing pizzas for school-sponsored events and is trying to be “where the students are.”
“Every place the students turn, I want them to see Domino’s Pizza,” he said. “I want them to know that we have the best deals on campus. I look to really create friendships with the students and then make customers out of those friendships.”
This year alone, Domino’s donated pizzas for Project Pumpkin, the Homecoming Parade and many other activities. It also is sponsoring Dance Marathon by supplying pizzas at DM events and during DM weekend, according to Cecilia Byrne, the DM executive co-chairwoman.
“We chose Domino’s because they are extremely easy to work with and truly want to help us in our cause,” said Byrne, a Weinberg senior.
After the previous Evanston Domino’s closed last year, De Leon was called on to bring the chain back. For the 38-year-old, it’s the next step on a journey he entered 20 years ago as a delivery boy in Chicago, doing the job he grew to love.
“You’ve got your car with your booming stereo, cruising around as I normally would, and I’m getting paid for that,” he says. “I get to drive around and deliver pizza and make money. Going to work every day, there was no monotony to it because every delivery was different.”
De Leon aims to set his Domino’s apart in a city dominated by what he calls “deep-dish heavy hitters.” The first way he is doing so is by making ordering easy. Customers can order by phone or online, either by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or by sending an AOL instant message to NUDominos.
“I call it ‘pizza talk and chat,'” he said. “When you’re going after the students, you have to be in the students’ faces, where the (students are) – You have to be on Instant Messenger- That’s one of the creative things that we’re bringing to campus.”
Domino’s also joins a list of Evanston pizza places offering special deals for Northwestern students through the WildCARD Advantage program. Carmen’s Pizza at 1012 Church St., Giordano’s at 500 Davis St., Lou Malnati’s at 1850 Sherman Ave. and Philly’s Best at 815 Emerson St. also offer WildCARD discounts.
De Leon estimates that he makes a “couple thousand” pizzas a week in his Evanston store alone. He also links his pizza business with his nephew’s graphic design firm to allow any organizations that partner with him to receive half-price costs for promotional banners.
Domino’s is also trying to establish itself in another facet of student life: facebook.com. Meghann Ostertag, last year’s social chairwoman for the Residence Hall Association, created a facebook group called “Dominos Is Better Than Papa Johns.”
“Ramon communicated to me that he really wanted to make Domino’s explode on campus and asked for my help as a campus rep,” the Weinberg senior said. “When we got back to school in the fall, I realized that facebook was a really great tool to help him get in touch with some of the people on campus. So, I created a Facebook group- (as) a way for Ramon and (me) to communicate with people on campus.”
As of Tuesday night, the group listed 38 members, along with the message that Domino’s “is the king of NU pizza.”
“If (students) need a pizza hook-up, they know it’s going to be one stop with me,” said De Leon. “People can text message me, they can send me an e-mail, they can catch me on IM. People will tell you that nobody gets back to you faster than Ramon. We don’t play- Absolutely nobody can give anyone at NU a better pizza deal than me.”
Reach Matt Presser at [email protected].
