NFIB

Roger Schelper Finds Success Feeding the Twin Cities
10/29/2002

In the Twin Cities, the name Davanni's is synonymous with great-tasting pizza and hoagies. With 19 restaurants in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, 1,000 employees and their own bakery, cofounder and owner Roger Schelper has created quite an oven-toasted empire.

"We started with an 800-square-foot restaurant near St. Thomas University in October 1975," says Schelper, who started the business with friends Mick Stenson and Bob Carlson. "Two years later we opened our second location by Augsburg College across the river, and we've grown steadily ever since."

Their success, he adds, is a result of a reputation for quality food and great service. "I love the food business and I love dealing with customers and people," Schelper says. "It's why I got into the business in the first place."

Davanni's, which bakes its hoagie buns fresh every night, has led the market in a number of innovations over the years. "We were the first in the Twin Cities with call-ahead service," says Schelper. "We were probably the first to offer first-name service, we were the first to offer New York-style pizza and we were the first to offer hot subs. Now everybody's imitating our heated-up hoagies."

Quite fittingly, the word "davanni" comes from "d'avanti," which means "the leader." But it wasn't the company's first name. "We started the business as Pontillo's Pizzeria," explains Schelper. Eight years later we changed the name to Davanni's because Pontillo's wasn't trademark-able. Ironically, even though our name was the only thing that changed, our sales dropped because people were convinced we had sold out to another company."

Today, the company that didn't sell out is the Twin Cities' largest locally owned, independent pizza and sub business. And owner Roger Schelper knows exactly what it took to get here. "It's our reputation. I think creating a business that has a high ethical and service reputation is very important."

Quick Facts:
Name: Roger Schelper
Business: Davanni's Pizza, www.davannis.com
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.
Founded: April 1975
Number of employees: 1,000

Do any family members work with you?
My brother Ken is one of the vice presidents. He runs the bakery and handles our HR.

When (and why) did you get involved with NFIB?
I can't even remember when I joined NFIB it's been so long. I've always had an interest in politics and the effect government has on us. For example, our first restaurant permit took us a couple of hours to get, but some of most recent permits have taken us a month or more. The difference between opening restaurant today and 27 years ago is ridiculous.

Another example: In Woodbury (an eastern suburb of St Paul), we recently had to put a $40,000 unit on our rooftop to take food odor out of the air. That's how preposterous this thing has gotten. The city of Woodbury literally has a guy on duty who checks to make sure people aren't violating sprinkler codes. We've received several tickets for it -- all this in the middle of what's been the rainiest summer in the history of the state.

What political issues are you currently most concerned about?
The inheritance tax is big, and tort reform is absolutely essential at the state and national level. The number of lawsuits out there is ridiculous. We've got a guy in his 40s suing us for age discrimination. He was just a poor performer, and yet we're being sued for letting him go.

What do you like best about being a small business owner?
The challenge of building something from scratch, of making something that has longevity and a good reputation from one employee to where we are now.