Pizza was king Wednesday night as dozens attended the grand opening celebration of the new Papa John’s Pizza franchise located at 1425 E. William Street.
The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with franchise owners Michael and Susan Kubrich, and Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell.
Members of the Carson City Board of Supervisors and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce also attended the celebration, which featured breaded chicken bites, cheese bread, cinnamon rolls and, of course, a lot of pizza.
It’s the first business venture that the couple has gone into together.
“She’s the big boss, then I’m the next boss,” jested Michael Kubrich, referencing his wife, Susan, and pointing to his wedding band. “This makes her the big boss.”
The Kubrichs said their decision to open a Papa John’s franchise had a lot to do with the company’s business philosophy.
“We’re impressed with the quality, the complete training and support, and the fact that they promote a happy team environment,” Michael Kubrich said. “It’s the same kind of working philosophy that I grew up with.”
Susan Kubrich is currently employed as a critical care nurse in Las Vegas. But the couple is in transition to Northern Nevada, where they will call home along with their Carson City Papa John’s franchise.
Restaurant enterprise represents an entirely new direction for Susan, while Michael is placing yet another feather in his entrepreneurial cap.
“I grew up self-employed with the family businesses,” said Michael Kubrich, who has had a hand in everything from farming to waste and recycling, trucking, used car sales, a radiator repair shop, and also food service. “My uncle was in the restaurant business, so I was also involved in that.”
But Papa John’s isn’t the reason the Kubrichs are relocating to Northern Nevada.
“We were looking at the Carson Valley for a retirement spot, and this just kind of all fell into place,” said Michael Kubrich, whose roots are in rural, small town America.
He said coming to Carson City and the Carson Valley is like coming home again.
“I love the small town attitude, the climate, the proximity to some great places, like Lake Tahoe and Reno, where I’m close enough but still far enough away,” he said. “I grew up in a small town, so this is where I’m comfortable. I lived in Las Vegas for 35 years and got tired of the city.”
The Kubrichs decided to operate their business out of the 1,700 square-foot retail space next to the FedEx store and across from Starbucks in the tidy, but bustling shopping center nestled between N. Saliman Road and State Street.
Remodel work began this spring then stalled briefly, Susan Kubrich said.
“Things have really moved since the third week of May,” she said.
The Kubrichs rely on General Manager Michael Walker to handle daily operations of the Papa John’s pizzeria.
With 20 years of experience in the industry, Walker brings a formidable background not only in pizza making but in restaurant management, too. He said 16 of those years have been in the general management of pizza restaurants.
“This is my career comfort zone,” Walker said. “It’s something that I know, and I know what I’m doing with it.”
Walker’s first job was making pizzas as a 16-year-old, and he has worked his way up the ladder ever since, even co-owning a pizza restaurant in Reno at one point.
“The confidence I have in doing what I do plays out in my abilities to run a store,” he said.
Walker said he was drawn to the Papa John’s brand because it is consistent with his own business philosophies.
“I like that I can be confident in what I sell, so when I tell people about the product, explaining what I do, why I do and where I’m coming from, I believe in it myself,” he said. “It’s not just a talking point. This really is better pizza and better ingredients.”
Walker said the company’s focus on quality and conscientiousness really scored big with him.
“The quality and the care of the quality is what allows the brand to speak for itself,” he said.
He said the Carson City Papa John’s Pizza franchise looks to not only be active in the local community, but become a key part of its fabric.
“I want everybody to know that we intend on being part of the community and completely engulfed in the community,” said Walker, who has already reached out to the Carson City Parks and Recreation Division and other youth organizations around town.
He believes in giving kids a chance to prove themselves -- something he was given as a teenager -- so the store is committed to providing employment opportunities for area youth.
“I can only go as low as age 16, and by law I can only have them do certain things,” he said. “But I want to aid them in getting employment so that they can continue their careers, go to college, and develop working knowledge that comes with having that first job.”
Walker said his approach as manager is consistent with the team philosophy of the Papa John’s company.
“My philosophy in running a store is that I’m not the boss, I don’t like to be called boss or any of those titles that place me above them,” he said. “I have everybody call me coach, friend, buddy, anything like that because I’m here to be a team leader. I like being a team member so that they learn. The best managers I ever had over the years were the ones that taught me how to run a business.”
Papa John’s is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The store can be contacted by calling 775-841-9500.
To learn more about the Papa John’s company, visit its web site here.