A Wheelie Pizzeria Type of Week!

by Amanda Guy

My blog post this week will be entirely dedicated to one of our local business clients here in Whitefish. We've spent quite a bit of time the last month and a half helping Jersey Boys Pizzeria update their branding & restaurant's overall look. The pizzeria got a big face lift in a very short period of time, so kudos to the J-Boys crew and their fearless leader, Jelisa, for updating their space in three short days. The blog post this week will cover a little bit about how Jelisa fell into the Pizzeria business, and how she decided to buy a successful business and make it her own.

Many of you know that Jersey Boys Pizzeria has been around the valley for several years now. It's known for the fresh, hot slices with delicious ingredients. It's one of the only places you can get that kind of quality in your food in a quick amount of time. So how exactly did Jelisa decide she needed to be a part of this industry and a pizzeria of all places?

For those of you that don't know Jelisa--which I assume is very few people because when that girl walks down a street she literally knows everyone--you should know that she is one of the most ambitious and dedicated women around. This is a woman who takes pride in her job not matter what it is, and no matter what the task may be.

After attending school to become an esthetician and running her own business for a couple of years, she knew she wanted to do something further in her professional career. When your current job is no longer fulfilling to you, it means it's time for a change.  I remember having a conversation with her a couple of years ago where she said "Amanda, I just need to do something else, I need to own my own business and I need have the challenge that my energy and personality requires." 

So this brings us to the Fall of 2014. Jelisa had found a business in Bigfork that she was very interested in purchasing. She became friends with the owners through the process, and it came down to the final minutes of whether or not the purchase would happen. Ultimately, the current owners decided to stay put and did a really awesome rebrand with their company. Jelisa was stoked for them and moved on to another venture. Now fast forward a couple of months, and Jersey Boys was there for the taking.  Jelisa jumped at the opportunity.

I honestly don't think I've ever seen someone more stoked, or dedicated to learning the kraft of baking pizza. First of all, who doesn't love pizza? NO ONE! That's right, NO ONE! She worked very hard alongside the previous owners, who taught her their skills and the craft of the perfect Jersey Boys Pizza. 

At a little over 10 months later, Jelisa is killing it with her trusty staff, friends, and family by her side. About a month ago, she and her partner in life Pete, stopped by our office to talk design and rebrand.

This is a woman who wanted to stay true to the food, flavors, and ingredients of the original restaurant, but something needed to be changed. Jersey Boys Pizzeria needed a facelift, and they were totally ready to take the leap. When you rebrand a business that's been around for several years, there always comes a little bit of a stress factor with it. You start to ask yourself "What if my customers hate it?" "What if my employees hate it?" "What if I decide I hate it?" After the jitters settled, it was finally time to begin discussions and brainstorming. 

Thus began the new logo development process.

Here at Wheelie, we typically go through a very systematic, well-planned process in creating logos. Usually it takes moretime, but with Jelisa, it was faster. However, once Jelisa narrowed it down to her favorite choice, there was something we discovered in the logo of choice that may not sit well overtime.

A good creative director always looks at the design solution from every angle possible. And so, Lisa pointed something out in the final design and suggested we tell our client before it was too late. The pizza cutter I so innocently drew for the logo (which by the way looked exactly like a pizza cutter) began to look a little more like something else. Yes, you can use your imagination and take a guess on what we now were seeing on this logo, and after pointing it out to Jelisa and Pete, none of us liked the logo anymore. In fact, we loathed it. Back to the drawing board.

Ultimately, the logo ended up being a slice of pizza above some classy lettering! In the end it's a pretty funny story, but that just goes to show that it's good to collaborate with a team of people before deciding what your company will be associated with.

Anyway, let's move on.

So a lot of you might have been pretty sad this week when you strolled up to J-Boys and discovered that it was closed for renovations. I know I was, and I'm the one that helped out with this whole rebrand. Jersey Boys Pizza slices are a huge part of the Wheelie Creative Team week! I would say we go there once or twice a week, and when you can't go in for three whole days because of renovations, you get a little sad! BUT THAT'S NO BIGGIE! And here's why!

After the development and selection of the final logo, it was officially go time. Jelisa decided November 30th through December 2nd they would close and tear things down. A new oven would be installed and one of the walls, that was in desperate need of tear down, would be replaced by her father and contractor, Byron Guy of Sunburst Construction. New paint colors had been selected, decals printed, and stencils made.

When you own a business and make any kind of change that may seem small to some, but is drastic to you, the stress can be overwhelming. But if you have a team of special humans that can help you through that process, you'll come out smiling on the other side.

In the end the new facelift, of J-Boys looks amazing. Jelisa and Pete could not be more excited, and with a few tiny alterations left to be made, things are looking great. We are very proud of this local business staple in our great community of Whitefish.

If you're interested in taking on a big renovation or brand identity project, let us know! We love working on these projects and have a great time brainstorming and coming up with new and unique ideas. Our small business packages are a great option for new brands, and we also offer amazing retainer contracts.

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Make sure you get into Jersey Boys, and throw a smile and a thumbs up Jelisa's way. She wants Jersey Boys Pizzeria to be around for a very long time, and she wants all of her patrons to know how much she cares about them and appreciates their business.

Happy Monday Everyone!