Good bye Tommy's

I recently learned that a long standing business in Maple Heights will be closing at the end of this month. The business in question is the locally famous Tommy's Pizza on Dunham Road. Tommy's Pizza has been here since the late 70's where he later opened up a homemade ice cream parlor. It was quite successful until the neighborhood changed, and then the ice cream part of the business went downhill.

Tommy was a great guy. I worked for him for about a year delivering pizzas many years ago. I knew him personally and was saddened when he passed away at such a young age in his early 50's from cancer. This was around 10 years ago. His widow remarried and she and her new husband ran the place since.

When Tommy first opened, he re-instituted home pizza delivery. Pizza parlors gave up on delivery service in the early 70's, but Tommy reinvented that service to make his restaurant more popular than the rest. As time went on, he operated three stores which became too burdensome, and he only kept the one outlet here in Maple Heights.

So Tommy is gone and so is his legacy at the end of August. As a loyal customer, I will miss the unique taste of that pizza. This is not widely known news, so I thought I would post it here in the event anybody wants to get a Tommy's pizza one last time.

Can't believe I grew up here and never been to or had their pizza.

This city is barely recognizable from when even I was growing up. The garden shops, Hough Bakery, May Co., two movie theaters, the pet store in Mapletown. Now something else is closing.

I've had Tommy's Pizza a few times delivered to my house. The pizza was very good. I lived in Maple Hts since the mid 50s' and never got a pizza from Tommy's until the time I called Domino's that was on Broadway near Lee and found the phone number disconnected. So, that's when I called Tommy's. I should have been getting my pizzas from Tommy's all this time. Way better taste than Domino's. Yeah, so another business is closing and it's a shame. But, on the bright side, maybe someone will rent that building and put in a small hair and nail salon or maybe make a small church or day care center. We can ALWAYS use more of those! >:-(

Another part of the Maple Heights "past" I will truly miss. Have been going to Tommy's for years and always enjoyed their pizza. I suspected something was up when I last stopped in a week ago; the place just felt off-key, although the pizza was still good.

Just another reason not to live in this god-forsaken town anymore, other than the fact that my house is worth next to nothing and I will have to give it away just to get out. Thank you to all the scum butts who ruined it!

Boy, you got that right, Maple Native. Hard to figure how someone could move here and then destroy everything. They're like birds that piss and $hit in their nest and when the waste gets up to the brim, they move to another nest and destroy that one. I see these houses that are refurbished by that Community Group that were fixed up nice and then the 'element' moves in and within a certain amount of time, the grass isn't cut and it gets full of weeds, which spread to the white neighbor's lawns who take care of theirs, and the yards look like pig pens. I can just imagine what the insides of those houses look like. These idiots should be living in huts made of bamboo out in a forest.

Maple Native wrote:

Another part of the Maple Heights "past" I will truly miss. Have been going to Tommy's for years and always enjoyed their pizza. I suspected something was up when I last stopped in a week ago; the place just felt off-key, although the pizza was still good.
Just another reason not to live in this god-forsaken town anymore, other than the fact that my house is worth next to nothing and I will have to give it away just to get out. Thank you to all
the scum butts who ruined it!

Yum, they do have amazing pizza, great toppings and such hearty sausage. I can tell by your post Maple Native you will miss these toppings as well. No more lip smacking pleasure for us...

The real shame is that he didn't try to sell the place. I wish somebody else would have bought it and continued the business. But then again, if you have a few bucks, who wants to start a business in this crime infested town? It was only a few years ago when they were robbed at gunpoint.

I stopped by for one of my last pizza's at Tommy's and spoke with the owner today. As it turns out, I had some of the information incorrect. The owner IS selling the place, but decided to close it down because he had no real offers.

He said he's selling it for much less than it's worth. A commercial/ residential property located on the corner of two busy streets. He's asking 100 thousand dollars less than the property was appraised for. He thought he would have no problem selling the place since it is a pretty good deal.

Let's hope some entrepreneur comes along and keeps the legacy alive. And if you know somebody looking to start their own business........

The problem is that property is only worth what somebody will pay for it, not what it is appraised for. He could keep that property on the market for 30 years and never see a buyer if he is asking more than what people will pay for it -- its true value.

Another thing to consider is what do the books look like? Yes, the place is a old-time favorite for the city, but what are the business numbers?

Not sure, but it's been in business for over 30 years, and this guy has been running it four about 18 of them. He said he makes a pretty good living, and if not for his wife, he'd keep the place open. But he saved enough to have an early retirement for he and his wife, so I would imagine that it's not a bad investment.

wow, sad to hear this.........been going there for years just not so much lately cuz i just dont care for pizza, bread, dough stuff, diet ya know?
Tommy was a good man, i didnt know he passed. I remember talking to him at his Broadway shop in Bedford years ago. this is just sad and so is maple heights, agree with all your comments, especially when ya try to care for your lawn and your neighbors c r a p flies all over it, Man what pigs!

What a bummer, Tommy's had some of the best pizza around. I go there enough to where they know me by name. I was talking to the owner's husband and he said he would like to keep it open, but it's his wife's business and she is not well enough to take care of it anymore.

Unfortunately no one in the family wants the business either. He said he would try and convince her to keep it open, but I think her mind is made up.

It's too bad someone won't come and take-over the business. They don't even have to stay at the same location - even though it would be nice. They could move the business to Bedford or Garfield.

Just a real shame, I'm going to miss that place. I'll have to make sure I get a pizza from there one last time.

It's actually a pretty good deal. He's selling everything for $150,000. There is even a three bedroom apartment above the place too.

I think if I had the money, I may take a stab at the business. I'm not much of a cook. Hell, I don't even like cooking for myself. But he told me he made a pretty good living over there. I always wanted to work for myself as well. Had I known a few months earlier, I might have inquired at a bank or small business association to see if I could swing it.

$150,000? That doesn't sound bad at all. I think $100,000 would get it to sell. That's what I would offer.

I'd have to expand the menu to include chicken wings and other shyt that the locals like, but I think it could be a viable business with the proper security measures.

For a corner property on two main streets,$150,000 is a steal, even in Maple Heights.

I remember several years back when the people at the Convenient store up the street from Tommy's were selling the property there. Because it was commercial property, it sold for 1.3 million dollars.

The owner states he doesn't care about recouping the money for the property, he just wants to cover the cost of the equipment.

Maybe it is because I don't like dealing with high business overhead, but I would really need to see the numbers. That is a lot of money to invest in a brick and mortar business in this day and age.

$1.3 million could make you a mint online. I'll take a $10,000 investment online over a lot of $150,000 brick and mortar investments.

Just the security issues alone would concern me. And where would I find employees I could trust? I wouldn't want any family or friends working a job where you could get shot in the face for $5.

The employees are already there, and if they leave, you can always find others.

A guy at work told me about a friend of his who had some land. The area was building up with businesses and stores, and Wal-Mart or some other store wanted to buy his property. He refused. Instead, he land-leased his property for $120,00 per year for 20 years. Would I love to fall into a deal like that.

Many years ago when I was delivering medical equipment, I had a delivery in Highland Heights. When I got there, it was like something you seen in a movie. Long driveway with a guest house in front of the mansion, a gardener, a horse stable and of course, plenty of wooded land.

The name on the delivery ticket was Severance Millingham. I was greeted at a door where the kitchen was. It looked like the Beverly Hillbillies kitchen equipt with restaurant style ovens and refrigerators. The old man was in another world because of his stroke, so I wasn't coy about asking the nurse who he was.

She told me that he owned all the land Severance Circle was built on (hence his first name). It was nothing until a developer wanted to build all those stores.

All I can say is: why not me? LOL!

That's what people fail to understand about getting rich in real estate. Development is where it is at. But I readily admit I don't know much about land development. I could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to live out my Trump fantasies.

But we are in the right county for it. The politicians love to take bribes to push deals through and make their buddies some money. lol

I hear ya. There is a company I deliver to out in Avon. The street was mostly houses that led to some industry. It was a difficult street to go down because of all the pot holes.

After this company built a huge facility and moved to Avon, the city resurfaced the street. They started to tear down houses; some were set afire for fire department training. They put up stop lights and added a turning lane. Businesses began to move in. The Cleveland Clinic is currently erecting a new outlet there.

I always wondered what these companies paid for all those houses they tore down. I bet the old mini-farms were sold for hundreds of thousands if not a million dollar figure.

Before I purchased this place, I looked (and seriously considered) another double home in Garfield. It sat right behind the old Radio Shack on Turney Road. It needed some work, but the owner wanted $62,000. My father knew the father of the guy who bought the place. When CVS wanted to move there, they paid him over twice what he paid for the house so they could tear it down and put in their store.

So I think the secret to land profits is to purchase homes in an area that has a lot of land and very near industry or retail. If it spreads your way, you can make a lot of bucks.

I agree. But as I said, how would you know WHICH land would be good in the future. You may get some idiot on the take like the former Mayor of Garfield who builds a complex on a toxic landfill.

I think in most cases successful developers have some political influence. They wine and dine the politicians. They contribute the big bucks to the campaign -- on and off the record.

Of course you hear of the stories like the one you just relayed. So people jump into real estate trying to make money, but most people simply do not.

And from what I hear the market is not coming back for at least 10 years. I'll be in my mid-40's and hopefully out of this country by then.