Young Entrepreneur Opens Business: Gino’s Pizza
by Scott A. Sumner
It was fun to meet Jan Wieckowski, age 24, who recently opened his first business this past April. He is following in a long family business tradition in the Thunder Bay area. Jan went to Confederation College taking Marketing for 2 years and then entered the nursing program at LU for 1 semester before deciding to start his own business with a Gino’s Pizza franchise.
“ I had worked in the other Gino's Pizza in Thunder Bay and knew the product well. The owners then had talked about the franchisor always wanting another Gino's in Thunder Bay. I talked it over with my parents and they thought it was a good idea. I wanted to stay in Thunder Bay so created my own job.” said Jan.
“ I chose Gino's because I know the product and have worked in pizza for close to 6 years now. I thought it would be a good idea. This northward location was available and I always thought of this location as a good site. We opened early in April and it has been very busy. It is hard to explain how busy Friday and Saturday nights are, it is almost overwhelming,” said Jan. “ We get a lot of people from Current River, the County Fair area and Oliver Road. A lot of business people come in for lunch and get slices. It is different for them than from what they are used to.”
Jan’s parents, John and Sandra Wieckowski, are both business owners and come from a business family. John currently owns Frankie & Johnny’s Auto Body Ltd. Sandra’s family has owned a school bus company for many years in the area. “ I was a human relations officer for a government department and then worked with a life insurance company in management. They always wanted me to move away from Thunder Bay but I couldn’t because I also love hunting and fishing very much and want to keep our family together. I love Thunder Bay; there is nothing else to say about it. This is the reason why I started my business years ago.”
Alexandra Wieckowski is the sister of Jan and went to Lakehead University taking the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program majoring in HR. She will also be involved in the new Gino’s Pizza business. “As soon as I graduated I moved to Toronto working in my field for over 6 years but decided to come back to Thunder Bay. I miss my hometown and all of my family here. When my brother had started the business I decided to come back,”said Alexandra. “ I will help him
on the back end of the business in accounting and can help up front if we wants me to. There are some HR jobs available in Thunder Bay, which I hope to get. You get a very nice lifestyle here. I find it easier to develop a sense of community here in Thunder Bay.”
Gino’s Pizza has a total of 14 people on staff working on certain shifts as well as delivery drivers. “ I am starting to enjoy being the owner although I am not really used to being somebody’s boss. It is a lot of stress and pressure. The staff will come up to me and say need help with someone on the phone. I am learning more everyday. It is always a learning experience. You have to kind of stay calm, be polite no matter what they are saying to you on the phone and believe me I have heard it all. Mom comes out and helps out a lot as well. My mom does the paper work for me including payroll. Coming from a business family has helped a lot,” said Jan. “ I am assuming for the next 6 months I will be here 7 days a week. I want people to enjoy my
product and to be a successful business. We are creating jobs and helping the economy. It kinds of makes me realize what makes the world go around. Everybody benefits. I would definitely recommend business ownership to young people.”
