By KATIE McHUGH
Features Co-Editor
[email protected]
Local pizza sales spiked due to the campus-wide lock down while City of Meadville Police pursued fugitive Keith Green around town Wednesday afternoon.
Vocelli’s Pizza earned over $2,400 in profit, selling 86 large pizzas and filling many other orders after the lockdwon began. The business’s four phone lines rang nonstop from the start of the lockdown to closing time at 11 p.m.
Students were still trying to place orders after Vocelli’s closed, according to manager Joan Luce.
Luce heard of the lockdown while driving back to Meadville from a conference in Pittsburg. She quickly called the number listed on the college’s homepage to see if it was safe to deliver pizzas to campus.
“I did call campus to make sure it was okay with them,” said Luce. “And [the woman on the line] said, ‘Well, you can do it at your own risk,’ and I didn’t know why. […] So I called the police.”
After Meadville police assured her Green was no longer near campus, Luce gave her drivers the go-ahead to deliver orders.
“My drivers kept their doors locked and did not keep their cars running whenever they were delivering,” said Luce. “And I told any driver that did not feel safe did not have to deliver.”
No drivers hesitated to deliver orders, however.
“I actually had three more people come in to help with the rush,” Luce said.
Deliverywoman Darcy Nunemaker arrived at work around 2:30 p.m. to help Vocelli’s manage the sudden upstick in orders.
“I actually just got done at the gym, and I came in my sweatpants and everything to help because they were really busy,” said Nunemaker. “I ended up taking four deliveries […] at the same time.”
“I didn’t feel in danger,” she added.
Another Vocelli’s driver delivered 24 orders and made $123 within a single seven-hour shift.
Domino’s Pizza placed 106 orders after the lockdown began, doubling their usual sales.
“We actually had a record Wednesday,” said manager Brenda Corner. “It was just like ‘ba-boom’ and we did a thousand dollars in two hours.”
Lice Vocelli’s, Domino’s seized the opportunity for increased sales.
“I thought it was pretty much safe,” Corner said. “There were tons of cops, there was a photo out of this guy. The drivers seemed to be okay with it and got there quick and safe and back and safe.”
Students ordered pizza for lunch and to gauge the severity of the lockdown.
“The whole reason we even called [Vocelli’s] was to see if they even were [delivering] because we didn’t know,” said Brittany Rung, ’13. “I wasn’t sure if they would. And he said it was completely fine to order, so we figured it was fine.”
Other deliverymen were apprehensive. Clay Grego, ’13, said the Pizza Hut driver he spoke with wasn’t sure if he should be down there because he was afraid Green was still in the area.
“He said he heard the guy was walking down by our house,” said Grego. “I said I was sorry but I think it was pretty funny, and he started laughing too, so it didn’t seem like there were any hard feelings.”
“I hope I wasn’t putting him in danger,” said Maya Jones, ’14, who lives in the same house as Grego. “[The police] had taken the block off our street.”
