Re: “CHOW HOUND: Sweet somethings”

Thanks for the updates on the Chester Cab situation, folks. We have reached out to Nielsen for clarification and will post it as soon as we hear back. In the meantime, here is the full text of the press release that he sent out to the media last week. I don't think there's any question that, based on this release, he was sending the message at that time that the restaurant was closing.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Chester Cab Pizza Will Be Closing Its Doors

Rochester, New York - March 7, 2013

It is with a heavy heart that owner and founder of Park Avenue's Chester Cab
Pizza is slinging his last pizza. The store, located at
707 Park Ave, had just surpassed its 30th year in business.

After living in Chicago, Nielsen introduced stuffed pizza baked into a pan
to Rochester in 1982. Also, he was the first in the area to put spinach,
broccoli, and tofu atop a pizza. And most recently, Nielsen came up with a
2.5 gram fat per slice, which tastes great.

Nielsen states that even though sales have been steady, "...it is the rising
expenses that took us to the point of unprofitability. In past years, I have
noticed that our margins were going down but decided to keep the business
afloat for better days to come."

It's not big news like a Kodak or Xerox closing, but Nielsen has prided
himself in keeping the store open seven days a week, only closing two days
out of the year. Also, he is proud that his pizza shops have created over
2000 stepping stone jobs and put hundreds of thousands of dollars back into
our government -- tax dollars which go on to provide jobs for our county,
state and country. Chester Cab Pizza is just a cog in the capitalism wheel
that purchases its product from a wholesaler, who buys from the
manufacturer, who buys from the farmer. That is free enterprise at its
best, and that is what keeps Americans working.

Nielsen was just a 21-year-old ambitious kid with a young family to feed
when he opened the doors to The Pizza Station opposite Seabreeze Park on
Culver Road. The early years it was just a day to day battle to make a
small living. "It was the start of what I call my Harvard business and life
education. I used to make pizzas and had work weeks of 80-100 hours.
Between my wife and I, we pulled in a profit at times of $400 per week. If
you combined our hours, I think it worked out to about $3.33 per hour. We
had no safety nets. I figured I was turning a profit, I believed in the
stuffed pizza, and that if I could make the best pizza in Rochester,
everything else would fall in place." Nielsen says in the past 30 years, he
has seen numerous pizzerias open and close, and he feels very blessed to
have made it this long.

During the mid 1970s, 80s, and 90s, Park Ave was a magical place. Real
estate agents were busy and every city neighborhood wanted to be the next
Park Ave. "I love Park Ave, especially during spring and early summer, when
the college kids come home and the street comes alive.
People come from all over to get a taste of it."

Looking back, Nielsen has a few regrets. "The City of Rochester generally
has been fair to my business. I have been on Park Ave under the
administrations of four different mayors. Many times, local merchants have
addressed the issue of lack of parking, especially during peak season.
Nothing has really changed, which may indicate that parking ticket revenue
is too great for the city to give up."

"I probably could keep Chester Cab Pizza going for a while more. But when I
see the mandates that businesses will be required to comply with by 2014, I
figure those would be the mandates that would break the camel's back. So
why wait, my work is done. Why delay the inevitable?"

"There's a perfect storm brewing, involving a number of factors.
There are higher fuel and food costs (due to mid-west droughts and corn
ethanol mandates), higher labor and health care requirements, and a hostile
New York State business environment. With high unemployment and U.S. Labor
salaries being stagnant, I did not feel we could push the prices to the
customer any higher."

"It just seems to be the right time to shut it down and say good-bye to my
customers and employees and thank them."

Chester Cab Pizza will be closing in the upcoming month.