Little Caesars is a family affair

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2016 (3371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steinbach’s newest pizza joint is open for business and it’s a family affair.

Little Caesars in Steinbach is owned by Irene and Scott Cook. Their daughter Kianna Cook is the general manager/owner and their son Kyle is a supervisor.

Kianna Cook said she knew she wanted to open a franchise since she was about ten years old—a dream she shared with her father.

After looking at several different franchise options, the family decided on Little Caesars which was always their first choice, Cook said.

“We wanted to open a Little Caesars because we loved the product. We are very strong on family values and Little Caesars was built by a family—a couple who raised it from the ground up. They have—I believe—eight children who are all part of the company as well,” said Cook. “It’s very family-oriented.”

Cook said the company originally wanted them to open a Little Caesars in Selkirk, because they had never heard of Steinbach before. She adds her family thought maybe the company wasn’t asking them to open a franchise in Steinbach, because there was already a location there. After looking into it, the Cooks found out there wasn’t a Little Caesars in Steinbach and decided to go for it.

“We told [the company] about Steinbach and they asked what it was,” said Cook. “I told them how the population has grown in the last few years. [Steinbach] has a Walmart and their getting all these big name businesses, so they should have a Little Caesars. They agreed and we sold them on Steinbach.”

Irene, Scott, and Kyle still live in Winnipeg and are looking to relocate to Steinbach, but Kianna on the other hand lives in a condo on top of the business.

“I came out to Steinbach in September and I decided, ‘you know, there’s a condo for sale in the building and I love Steinbach after two times of ever being here.’ I wanted to live here and it works better for me coming into the store and isn’t a forty-minute drive coming from Winnipeg,” she said. “It’s nice and close—I just run downstairs.”

Cook said one of their goals as a franchise is to be involved in the community. One of the ways they’re doing that is through donating left over products to South East Helping Hands on a regular basis.

“Our products are hot and ready all the time for customers who walk-in and leave with a smile and a pizza in 30 seconds or less. That’s our motto and when the pizzas are in the warmers for 30 minutes they’re still amazing delicious pizzas but they might not have the perfection—they’ve got to be right fresh,” said Cook. “So, we’re donating all the pizzas that have been in there for 30 minutes to Helping Hands.”

She adds Helping Hands will pick up the pizzas six days a week.

This isn’t a Little Caesars company-wide initiative—it’s the Steinbach location’s choice, Cook said.

“I saw the store in Niagara Falls do it,” she said. “It’s an option. The other store I went to just through everything out.”

Cook adds that at her previous job, they also threw out all the leftover food and it broke her heart to know that there’s people starving and they were throwing all that food away.

As for other goals for the franchise, Cook said they’d like to get involved in sponsorship opportunities within the community.

“We’d like to get involved in the community and show what we’re about. Show our family values and how much we care about the community, because we really do,” she said. “Our other goal is to deliver a perfect pizza to all our customers so they keep coming back.”

Little Caesars is located at 20-Unit 1 PTH 52 West.