Pomodori Pizzeria Expands to Dieppe
DIEPPE —Pomodori Pizzeria franchisee Michael O’Pray first opened a Moncton location in 2020. He’s always wanted to expand the business to Dieppe but the Covid-19 pandemic put that vision on the backburner.
“But as the last year to 18 months has progressed, we just felt that, with all the expansion going on in Dieppe, it was the right time to go,” he told Huddle.
Now, his new Pomodori location is slated to open in Dieppe at 140 Canaan Drive by the end of July.
The expansion marks a milestone for the New Brunswick-based company, which is known for its Neapolitan-style pizzas, because it’s the fourth location to open since the company was founded in 2008.
Pomodori Pizzeria also has shops in Saint John and Rothesay.
“We are extremely proud to bring our passion for authentic Neapolitan pizza to the vibrant community of Dieppe,” said Pomodori co-founder Janice MacPherson in a news release. “This expansion marks an incredible milestone for our brand and we look forward to sharing our unique dining experience with Dieppe residents.”
O’Pray said conversations with the brand’s owners, Keith Dunphy and Janice MacPherson, picked up last fall when they started looking at locations around Dieppe Boulevard, an area he said has “just exploded” when it comes to economic development.
“There’s tons of construction going on and as soon as a place would become available, it would basically get snapped up in a matter of a month,” said O’Pray. “So, we just kept chatting about it, just wanting to make sure we could find the right space.”
Expansion efforts slowed down around Christmas but ramped up over the last few months. After O’Pray learned in February that there was an available space, they snapped it up.
He said it’s an underserved market, especially when it comes to restaurants, since most belong to large food chains. O’Pray said many Dieppe residents drive all the way over to Pomodori’s Moncton location on St. George Boulevard.
“It says to us that there’s definitely a need for it there and that we have a clientele that’s already existing,” he said. “And based on our announcement that we were going, our social media response has been fantastic, so I think people are excited that we’re coming.”
O’Pray said he hopes to open the location by the third week of July. This location will also feature a full-service patio, which he says is one of the few in the area.
O’Pray is looking forward to opening day and considers the expansion to be a testament to yet another New Brunswick business that did the best it could to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. He says that “speaks volumes” to the business foundation Pomodori had built.
“They were ready for the worst-case scenario and we were lucky enough to be a part of that,” he said. “To come out the other side of Covid and then be ready to expand, I think it’s quite a testament to what Pomodoro is, for sure.
Aaron Sousa is a Huddle contributor covering Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]