Pandemic Makes Secaucus Pizzeria Pivot, Launch Grocery Delivery

SECAUCUS, NJ — Much has been said about the suffering of small businesses during coronavirus. But here in Secaucus, one local pizzeria owner has remarkably been able to pivot, adding a home-delivery grocery service in addition to serving pies.

"When the coronavirus hit, we had no idea how long and how intense it was going to be," said Steve Natoli, 63, who has owned and operated Natoli's Italian deli and pizzeria on 7th Street for the past 43 years. Natoli's has always had a small section of groceries and paper goods.

"Before corona, the bulk of our business was pizza, lunch sandwiches and catering. But as people stayed home and couldn't go out, it starting going to zero," said Natoli. "But right at the same time, we also noticed more and more customers, especially seniors, were asking if groceries could be delivered — if the food could be left right on their doorstep."

Customers also began asking if he had baking supplies.

"We were getting calls, 'Do you have flour? Brown sugar? Confectionery sugar? Pancake mix? Baking soda?' he said. "We noticed people were baking a lot more at home."

Natoli realized he had a market: Home-bound senior citizens and local families who were understandably nervous about going outside, especially when cases were skyrocketing in March and April. Few wanted to face the Walmart crowd and online food delivery was notoriously difficult to schedule. There is also no grocery store in Secaucus.

"We transitioned to more of a grocery market. Before we had, let's say, a simple head of lettuce, some tomatoes and red onions," said Natoli. "When this happened, we massively expanded our fresh produce section, adding sweet potatoes, celery, carrots, eggplants, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, pineapples — if it sells, we re-stock it."

Overall, Natoli's added 15 new grocery products: Canned tomatoes ("people are making sauce again"), pancake mix, oatmeal, buttermilk, baking soda and baking powder, among others.

"In the meats we used to just have the chicken cutlets and sausages. Now we added pre-cooked meatballs and kielbasa by the pound," he said. "Now our primary business is groceries and cold cuts by the pound, and people are loving it."

Natoli's has a free delivery service and there is no minimum charge.

"Even if you just need a dozen eggs we will deliver that, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m." he promised. "There is no minimum for delivery."

Nowadays, when you get a Natoli's pizza delivered, it comes with a grocery list attached, asking what items you need at home. Natoli's will even deliver things like Excedrin, Band-Aids, shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletries.

For a while, Natoli's was even the only place in town to find paper towels and toilet paper.

"I was going out myself and picking up the paper products; I drove all around," he said. "We don't sit here and wait for deliveries to be made. For a while there, we were the only ones carrying toilet paper, paper towels and Clorox."

In the midst of the pandemic, Natoli's even expanded to a second location: He opened a second Natoli's in a vacant property he owns in the North End of town (where Towne BBQ used to be.)

"We were looking to rent it out, but it became clear that wouldn't happen. People aren't going to rent out a storefront in the middle of the corona situation," he said. "We noticed that the North End didn't have anywhere to buy groceries and cold cuts, so we opened as another grocery store there."

(The Natoli's North End does not serve pizza or pasta, so as not to compete with Il Forno.)

If anything, Natoli's is the story of a small-business owner who had to think on his feet and rapidly pivot when — basically — the entire world came falling down.

How does April's business compare to say, December 2019?

He did not mince words:

"Overall, we are down 70 percent. Forty percent of our business was catering. And that is now zero. And then 25 percent is off because we lost our lunch rush, which was all the people who worked in this area," he said. "Also, groceries are a lower profit margin than pizzas and Italian dinners: We could fill a big grocery order and it's $80. Whereas five or six dinners and a pizza is over $100."

But right now, Steve Natoli is holding steady and treading water.

"With having the two stores, we are able to keep all our people employed, and we're happy with that. If we can keep doing what we're doing, OK," he said. "The elderly ladies are the sweetest; they say, Thank God for Natoli's, I would starve without you guys!"

"But what we're proudest of is the compliments we get on the sanitary conditions of the store," he said. "When people buy food from you, especially in a time like this, they are telling us they trust us with their lives."