Pisanello's Pizza owner enjoying good times after a rocky start
OAK HARBOR - Ethan Valdez has been working off and on at Pisanello’s Pizza in Oak Harbor since he was 16 years old. In 2019, he made the jump to purchase the business, not realizing he would face major challenges in the first few years. COVID-19 shutdowns threatened to dismantle his business, his landlord needed him to temporarily close the shop to do needed upgrades, and a walk-in refrigerator broke last fall.
But today, Pisanello’s Pizza is open, thriving, and doing better than ever after a nearly three-month closure for remodeling.
Valdez, a 2008 Oak Harbor High School graduate, had earned an accounting degree and was working as a sales associate at a local car dealership in 2019 when the former Pisanello’s owner approached him about purchasing the pizza shop.
“She was going to shut the doors. I jumped in headfirst and never looked back,” he said.
Landlords needed to upgrade the building and plumbing
After his business survived the pandemic, Valdez was informed by his landlords, Zane and Chelsea Greer of River Property Rentals, that they needed to make necessary upgrades to the building, which included upstairs apartments.
“He wanted to get the place updated, but in order to get to the plumbing upstairs, I’d have to shut down,” Valdez said.
Before the Greers could begin the project, the pizza shop’s walk-in refrigerator stopped working, and Valdez was faced with potentially hundreds of dollars in lost product. What happened in the wake of the crisis shocked him.
When walk-in fridge failed, community rallied to help
Community Markets offered to let him store his dough in their freezers, and when Valdez made a Facebook post asking the community to help him sell out of his product so it wouldn’t be lost, local residents immediately responded.
“The community came out and bought it all. The support was overwhelming. Without their help and the help of Community Markets, it would have been a huge loss, but I only lost $250,” Valdez said.
The failed refrigerator created an open door for the remodeling project, and Valdez asked Zane if he could begin early. The Greers jumped into the work and completed not only safety upgrades but made historical changes as well. They made plumbing and electrical upgrades, removed a dropped ceiling, exposed original brick in the dining room, installed new flooring and cedar counters, and unveiled an original interior, decorative column. Rather than remove the column, they restored it.
“There was a column covered up. That was the best surprise,” Zane said. “There’s one covered up on the outside, and we’re going to try to get to that one, too.”
The Greers have rehabbed other downtown Oak Harbor buildings, always with a focus on historical restoration. They try to focus their plans on old photos that show the buildings’ original designs. Zane discovered a vintage photo of the Pisanello’s building when it housed the local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He plans to remove the building’s awning and restore the front of the building to its original look.
“We’re going to bring the storefront back,” Zane said. “Over the years, people pull the character out of buildings. We want to put them back to the way they were. We’re trying to redo as many buildings as we can to bring business back to downtown.”
What began as an unexpected challenge that could have harmed Valdez’s business ended with a newly remodeled shop that has increased his business and drawn dine-in customers that hadn’t returned since before the pandemic.
“It’s a dream come true, to have the shop remodeled,” Valdez said. “The customers love it. People are overjoyed that their local pizza shop looks as good as the pizza tastes.”
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Pisanello's Pizza overcomes hurdles, remodeling challenges
