Buennagels mark 10 years in pizza

 

November 27, 2014

Diana Zimmerman

Sharon Buennagel started a pizza business 10 years ago and it's still going strong.

To celebrate 10 years of Sharon's Pizza, owner Sharon Buennagel and her family will have an anniversary party with cake and free pizza on Saturday, December 6 from 1-4 in their restaurant.

Throughout the month of December the restaurant will have special coupons and a raffle for a free gift basket. They will also be giving away a free pop with every purchase.

In 2004, Buennagel had been working in the Take and Bake located next to the post office a couple days a week when the owner told her she was going to retire.

"This would be cool if this were mine," she thought. Then she jumped in with both feet, maybe even head first.

Buennagel got a loan, bought the place and then came home and told her husband, John, who, it turned out, was very supportive.

Sharon's Pizza opened that December.

She started adding sandwiches to the take and bake menu. Then they bought an oven and started offering daily specials. Business doubled every year.

In 2008, David Nelson asked Buennagel if she would consider moving into his new building by the highway and she happily accepted the invitation. It was a good move, and according the Buennagel, it increased business 40 percent.

"We've been in this location for six years," Sharon said. "And they're right. It's location, location, location. Before, we relied on local traffic and some visitors from the marina, but being next to the highway has brought us a lot more business."

The work has been rewarding and it's done much for the Buennagel family. They were able to purchase a home and move out of a single wide mobile home in Skamokawa many years ago. Her oldest girl, Abby, is in her third year of college, and Sara is active in middle school.

"We've gotten to go places and do things as a family I never imagined," Buennagel said.

There were some aspects of the job that did not come naturally to her, but the Bank of the Pacific pointed her to a Small Business Management Program at Clatsop Community College that was very helpful. She learned about bookkeeping and how to forecast a budget.

Buennagel got the opportunity to do some catering, which she enjoyed and she even tried to expand by opening the Diner on Main Street, but that didn't work out as well as she could have hoped and eventually they had to close the new venture.

"It was heartbreaking," she said, "but the downs don't outweigh the good."

Despite that one hiccup, they've had many years of success and Buennagel hopes you will stop by and celebrate with them.

"I wasn't thinking down the road 10 years," she said. "I was thinking, what am I going to make today?"

"I'm happy about where we've gotten."

 

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