This Is Albuquerque: Pizza 9

\ Mar 02, 2017

4 min read

1. How did you get started in this business?

After opening his first restaurants in Chicago—and with 30 years of experience in the pizza business—Hass moved to Albuquerque and opened Pizza 9 at the Gibson store (5305 Gibson SE) with his business partner, Rod. In January 2010 they incorporated Pizza 9 and franchise opportunities are now available in New Mexico and its surrounding states. There are currently 24 Pizza 9s that are open for business!

2. What is your business philosophy?

The customer should always leave with a smile. It is important to understand that every customer’s needs are different, and we are here to make them all happy. Our customers are our greatest asset. They love our food and come back often. They also spread the word to their friends and family so they can experience our quality food and service. We love leaving our customers with a smile on their face and a full belly. We’re motivated by that.

3. What significant changes have you implemented recently?

We are constantly changing and growing. Our goal is to expand throughout New Mexico. While we are very appreciative of being voted Best Pizza Delivery for four consecutive years, we also want to be your dine-in destination! Many of our stores have expanded their dining rooms. Our new location in Gallup, N.M. even has a glow-in-the-dark mini golf course in it!

4. What successes in the past year are you most proud of accomplishing?

We are extremely happy to continue our expansion. We have a few more stores under our belt than we had last year … and even more coming in the future. We have even expanded across state lines to Amarillo, Texas, Oklahoma City, Okla. and even fabulous Las Vegas, Nev.! We will have locations opening soon in El Paso and Dallas, Texas. We are really excited to deliver delicious pizza (and more!) to even more homes and provide a fun and comforable space for our dine-in and carry-out customers.

5. What do you offer that the competition doesn’t?

Fresh ingredients, and we make our dough fresh daily! We have a variety of options on our menu, including Chicago-style pizza, garden and specialty salads made fresh each day, calzones, pizza rolls, hot sandwiches, pastas, soups and amazing desserts. We also have gluten-free pizza and other gluten-free products.

6. What was your best business decision?

The decision to franchise and create opportunities for families to own their own businesses was our best decision. We are excited to continue expanding throughout the beautiful state of New Mexico and beyond.

7. What contributions to the community (charitable or otherwise) are you most proud of?

We want to get as involved as possible in the community, and we have contributed to many organizations in the area. This past year we have increased our donations. In 2016 we donated over $25,000. Currently, we support Folds of Honor, which is an organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of those killed or injured while serving our nation. $1 from each sale of our loaded breadsticks goes to support Folds of Honor. We also make it our mission to help locally in our communities wherever and whenever possible. We’ve hosted many fundraisers for the families of fallen officers and we are proud that we can provide an outlet for our wonderful customers to show their support for the law enforcement community. We also love holding fundraisers for local groups, clubs, teams, etc. We are now offering an exciting fundraising program that you won’t find anywhere else in the Albuquerque area.

8. How has the internet affected your business and how do you think it might affect your business in the future?

Our website, pizzanine.com, gives information on our business and locations and provides a menu for our customers and an opportunity to order online. Social media also helps us connect with our fans. We love to hear feedback from our customers and try to implement it to improve their experience.

9. What do you look for in prospective employees?

We look for a positive, upbeat and professional attitude. We also look for a clean driving record for our drivers. P.S. must love pizza!