Gainesville pizzerias are raking in the dough this year.
Sales at pizza restaurants nationwide will reach $36.1 billion at the end of 2012, which is up 3.8 percent from 2011, according to a study released on Sept. 17 by Packaged Facts, a market research company for consumer goods.
Some Gainesville pizza restaurants said they are enjoying the effects of the national increase.
Paul Gillespie, owner of two of the three Five Star Pizza restaurants in Gainesville, said there is an increase in sales compared to 2011.
He said 2008 was the busiest year ever for his restaurants, but he said this year will become the second busiest. Pepperoni is his best seller.
Gillespie said the restaurant is doing a bit better than it was this time last year.
“As of the end of August, Five Star was up 2.3 percent for the year,” he said.
Jen Silva, manager of the Pizza Hut on Archer Road, said her restaurant is doing better than the national percent increase.
“As a whole, more than that average at this location,” she said. “At least a 5 to 10 percent increase since last year. We are doing very well.”
Leonardo’s By the Slice manager Mike McGuire said the business is doing well, but it is still too early to tell, since the restaurant’s main clientele is students and because it is the beginning of football season.
With a plastic fork and knife in hand, Aultemar Martins ate two slices of pizza covered in sausage and other meats in the Reitz Union.
The 18-year-old, who moved from Angola three months ago, is learning English at UF. He said he eats pizza about three times a week.
“Pizza is the easiest lunch,” he said. “I prefer Pizza Hut because it’s the easiest to order online.”
U.S. pizza restaurants are doing better than last year in sales and are expected to reach $36.1 billion by the end of the year.
