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The ovens at two Pannizza locations in St. John’s may be dormant today, but the entrepreneur who brought the franchise to the island this spring says they’ll be fired up again early in the new year.

Despite reports in the media that the businesses are closed permanently, David Primmer, founder and owner of the Fifth Ticket Kitchen and Bar, has decided to sell his franchise licences for the active Kenmount Road and Village Mall locations as well as the Avalon Mall storefront that was soon to open. The potential buyer for the latter is also considering taking on the licences awarded for Pannizza franchises in the St. John’s International Airport and The Shoppes at Galway.

“At the end of the day I sat back and looked at what was more important to me and I didn’t want the Fifth Ticket to suffer through me taking on too much in another venture and focusing all my energy on that, so we stepped back and looked for a new buyer,” explains Primmer, who started the downtown St. John’s restaurant with lottery winnings on the fifth ticket he scanned while checking workplace lottery tickets.

“I’m sure the new ownership group is going to do well by it.”

Like most entrepreneurs who enter the world of fast-food franchises, Primmer learned pretty quickly that one of the biggest challenges is adequate and reliable staffing.

“You get staff that quit on a dime all the time. It’s just the nature of that business and minimum wage. If someone offers them 10 more hours a week, they’re gone there, they’re doing what’s best for them,” says Primmer, noting he was spending 12 hours a day making pizzas.

The Village mall, meanwhile, presented its own problems once human resources call centre NorthgateArinso moved out of the shopping centre in September.

“The food court really thrived when there was all these people in there working, like the call centre, but once the call centre left, sales dipped like crazy.”

Divesting of the pizza chains also allows Primmer to focus on franchising the Fifth Ticket. He has partnered with Halifax-based Eat It Brands and is establishing a location in the Nova Scotia capital.

“Once we open one there, I’m pretty much going to have to live there for a while and help the new owners because I want them to succeed,” he says, adding that there are other potential franchisees in the works.

Primmer says partnering with Eat It Brands — which counts Pannizza as one of its brands — and availing of their legal and accounting expertise will make it easier to get new franchises off the ground.

Business is good at the Fifth Ticket in St. John’s — sales are up 40 per cent over last year — so Primmer is also looking at some renovations to increase full table service capacity and make a bigger kitchen. Look for those changes to be ready for the summer of 2018.

kenn.oliver@thetelegram.com

Twitter: kennoliver79