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Tom &
Lisa Checkosky, owners and operators
of Pepicelli’s Pizza, voted
Hanover’s favorite pizza, found
their way to Ashland by way of
Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Tom was
raised on NY & NJ style pizza, and
spent almost 20 years working in the
pizza business. Many of those years
with Domino’s Pizza, were he gained
much of his store front and
operational experience.
Yearning
to break free from the confines of a
franchise run company and wanting
more creative license, Tom decided
it was time to break out on his own.
Tom did his homework, he set out on
what he refers to as an educational
pilgrimage to visit all the mom &
pop pizzeria’s he possibly could
between NY & NJ, gathering data,
talking to the owners about what
worked and what didn’t, the various
pitfalls to watch out for, and glean
any sort of wisdom he could from
those that had been doing just what
he wanted to. The one thing he found
constant in all the places he
visited was that the owners were
always on site and very much hands
on. And that’s just what he’d been
longing for. The kind of place where
you get to know your customers and
they know you, a place that becomes
a part of the community.
Why not
just stay in the New York/New Jersey
area and do the “pizza thing”, one
may ask. Tom’s response to that was
that he wanted to bring “real NY/NJ
style pizza” south. In fact he and
Lisa had set their sights on
Virginia Beach and it was a chance
detour that landed Tom in Ashland,
or should we say got Tom lost in
Ashland. “We had spent the better
part of 2 years scouting sites down
south, mostly in Virginia”. Tom was
on yet another of those scouting
trips, this time, without Lisa, when
he realized he was lost, he pulled
off I95, called Lisa and asked her
to mapquest me some directions for
him. “As I drove I saw Virginia
Center Commons and thought I was
heading in the wrong direction, so I
turned around and headed up RT 1.
Then I landed in Ashland”, quips
Tom. After driving around and
exploring the town, Tom had his
“Eureka” moment and called Lisa very
excited and told her had found the
place where their new pizzeria
should be.
The
first people he met while in town
were Anne Woodward, Mark Maphis, and
Vedys Mills. Tom knew within a 24
hour period that this is were he
wanted to “set up shop” literally!
He said
Ashland was the perfect fit, it had
that small town feel with a strong
sense of community yet it’s
proximity was close to a bigger city
with much to offer as well.
Tom &
Lisa can’t say enough about how
helpful MAP and everyone has been to
them over this last year. He loves
the way everyone is so gung-ho and
pro Ashland, “it’s very easy to
catch that community spirit” Tom
Says. It’s been a whirlwind year for
Tom & Lisa. They opened their doors
last November 9th, started right in
doing pizza for various community,
college and school related events,
and within 4 months earned the
Readers Choice title of Hanover’s
favorite pizza, a claim both he and
Lisa are very proud of.
Now,
just a year later, they have moved
down the street to a bigger and more
accommodating location to serve
their customers even better. Their
new location, nestled in between The
Smokey Pig and Ashland Ace Hardware
at 208 S. Washington Highway is
larger with a greater dine-in
capacity, upgraded amenities, wi-fi,
and soon to be offering patio
dinning.
When
asked how was it to be working side
by side, day in & day out with your
spouse, Lisa was quick to chime in
that it was great, that they both
know each others strength and
weaknesses and compliment each
others style well. However, Lisa
also points out that she’s more the
morning person and so you’ll find
her opening Pepicelli’s and prepping
for the lunch rush while Tom can be
found there in the afternoon and
into the evening.
The next
question that one may ask, with the
last name of Checkosky, where did
Pepicelli’s come from? Tom went on
to explain that it was in fact was a
family name, that it was Lisa’s
fathers surname. Tom remembers
always thinking to himself,
“Pepicelli’s, what a great name for
a pizza parlor”… and what a great
pizza parlor at that, thanks Tom &
Lisa for getting lost, but finding
the center of the universe! |
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