Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad & Christie Erickson
Brad & Christie, thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
How it started: Brad & Christie Erickson, Duluth natives, always wanted to open a restaurant. While discussing ideas & concepts for about a year, they went on a family trip to Arizona in 2010. While there, they visited a local pizzeria & fell in love with the flavor of Neapolitan Pizza. “I had never tasted this type of pizza before. It ruined me for all other pizza! It was a taste I craved forever after. No other pizza compared” said Christie. “It had this pillowy crust & smoky taste from the flames. The toppings were light, yet the pizza had an amazing flavor.” At the time, Northern Minnesota offered nothing like this. They decided it was the perfect concept to share with Duluth. With their very young daughter Luisa on their hip, they developed the business plan & found the perfect location in the heart of Duluth’s Canal Park. We were so excited to find a space right along Canal Park Drive. It’s an older building with great brick interior walls, front windows to watch the bustle of canal park, & a back area for a patio. A perfect spot for our vision of Vitta Pizza! After a complete remodel of the space, they opened Vitta Pizza Canal Park in June of 2011.
In the post Covid era of 2021, the idea of convenience was at the forefront of everyone’s mind, including Brad & Christie’s. They searched for a second Duluth location where they could offer a drive-up window option. In November of 2022, with the unwavering help of an amazing team, Vitta Pizza opened a second location at 21 W Central Entrance. Customers can dine in, but also order ahead & receive a text when their order is ready for pick up in the drive up window! We also offer delivery such as DoorDash. The drivers can drive up for the order which makes it a much quicker delivery than our competitors.
Our mission at Vitta Pizza is to create the most flavorful, authentic, wood-fired pizzas & fresh salads, in the most friendly, supportive, fun & welcoming environment so customers crave coming back. We are achieving this by sourcing fresh quality ingredients, staying true to our handmade recipes & supporting our team to ensure they provide a 5-star experience for each & every customer each & every time.
We have been blessed with an amazing team who have a passion for making great pizza while creating a fun, cool vibe for our customers. Our goal is to be the restaurant of choice when people ask “where should we eat tonight?” Our team helps achieve that goal by focusing on what they do best every single day.
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The success of Vitta Pizza allows us to reinvest in our team as well as give back to the very community that supports us. We are big supporters of local groups, charities, auctions, & local sport teams. We grew up in Duluth & it feels so good to be able to give back to our hometown.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The early years were tough. I imagine most first-time restaurant owners would say that. Our daughter Luisa was three when we opened the first location & Jaeger was born in year two. It was definitely a balancing act. You pour everything into the business in order to grow & protect the business. You spend many hours perfecting your craft, training your team, building & maintaining a customer base, doing all you can to gain & optimize a presence in your city, & online as well. All while keeping your eye on the reason you started; this delicious pizza at the center of the plate.
We knew & expected it to be tough the first few years. We understood it was a short term sacrifice for our long term goals. Fortunately, we saw 10%+ annual same-store sales growth for nine consecutive years. The growth proved to us we were offering a great product.
Duluth is a beautiful city. However, the climate can be a bit of a challenge. Duluth sees beautiful 72 degree weather but only for about 3 months a year. We have a true fall, a wet spring & a winter that seems to last for 6 months. This leaves us with a short tourist season. Luckily, Duluthian’s are hardy & we venture out to support local business in the worst of weather.
A fun story of an obstacle was installing the Mugnaini brick oven in time for the opening of the second location. The oven needed to be imported from Italy. It was post covid & things were taking longer than usual to cross borders. The oven was delayed at customs for a very long time in the port of Los Angeles. We are a wood-fired restaurant. We don’t have any other ovens. Our opening hinged on that oven leaving Italy & getting to Duluth Minnesota on time. Fortunately, it finally cleared customs with a week or two to spare. We could set an opening date!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Vitta Pizza is your mom & pop small business story. Brad & I started this journey when we were 41. That may seem late for some to start an entrepreneurial journey. But it worked for us. We finished college, worked various jobs that gave us great hands-on experience & fed into our business knowledge. When Brad decided he wanted to open his own restaurant, we didn’t consider no as an option. We knew it was going to be a risk but also knew in our heart it would work. We went all in. Brad quit his job & cashed in his 401K to open the business. I kept my “day job” to help support us & worked on Vitta’s marketing at night. Brad was in front of the oven cooking great pizzas & building an amazing team. We did this for years. A few years back, with thanks to our strong managers, Brad was able to step back. He could stop working IN the business so he could work ON the business. Today Brad & I work side by side, together growing the business. We have this great team in place at both locations who allows us to be behind the scenes supporting them while scaling the business for a possible Vitta #3.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
What is Neapolitan Style Pizza?
Neapolitan pizza originated in Naples, Italy in the 1800’s. It is prepared with simple and fresh ingredients: a handmade dough, raw sauce from Italian tomatoes, freshly sliced mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil. Additional toppings are light to not overpower the intense unique flavor in every bite. It’s the way pizza was first made.
One characteristic is Neapolitan Pizza has more sauce than cheese. This leaves the middle of the pie a bit wet. Because of this, Neapolitan pizzas are generally smaller. Our pizzas are 9 inches making them closer to the size of a personal pizza. Another characteristic is the crust. The edge of the crust is pillow like, a bit chewy, & may bubble up with small, dark char spots. This char is called leoparding & is due to the flame & high temperatures reflecting off the ceiling of our brick oven. The charring adds flavor & texture to your pizza. The flames & heat allow us to cook our pizza fast in as little as 97 seconds at very high temperatures (800 F to 1000 F). Be sure to ask for a side of our Caesar dressing to dip your crust into. It’s a divine local secret.
Pricing:
- We offer 9″ & 5″ size pizzas
- Build your own or try one of our specialties
- We offer daily specials
- Proud to offer an eclectic local beer selection
- Fresh & tasty salads with housemade dressings
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vittapizza.com
- Instagram: @vittapizza
- Facebook: @vittapizzacanalpark @vittapizzacentralentrance
- Yelp: vitta pizza canal park & vitta pizza central entrance
