Business & Tech

Narberth Pizza, Stronger Than The Storm

After succumbing to Tropical Storm Andrea in June, the Montgomery Avenue pizza shop is back in business, and grateful to the customers who stuck with it.

On June 7, it started raining outside of Narberth Pizza. Hard. Tropical storm Andrea, after making landfall in northwestern Florida the day before and soaking most of the east coast as it whipped north, had perched itself over the borough.

Storms like Andrea come and go for most of us without incident: barbecues are cancelled, shore plans complicated, maybe a new pair of shoes get ruined, but life, for the most part, marches on. 

But sometimes, of course, it doesn’t. And on June 7, for Todd Rash, it didn’t.

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“It was a Friday, a Friday evening. It was bad. Just raining all day, heavily,” the owner of Narberth Pizza said, matter-of-factly.

And then it happened.

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“It started with a little drip in the corner of the shop. We would mop it up, clean it up, but by the end of the night the roof started coming down. It caved in.”

Rash watched, helpless, as his business, literally, fell apart.

“You could see the ceiling fans sinking lower and lower. When it was all done, it was raining inside. It was just like a wave of water came in.”

Rash and his employees turned off the gas, flicked off the lights, and evacuated. Later that night, he watched police wrap caution tape around his 940 Montgomery Avenue building.

The damage was severe.

'Not a Penny Was Made The Whole Time'

For the next five weeks, Narberth Pizza was closed. While Rash initially hoped to do takeout while contracting crews scrambled to rebuild the roof and repair the dining area, he couldn't get the necessary approval from the health department. So for five weeks, nothing.

“I didn’t make any money. We didn’t have one sale come in…not a penny was made the whole time.”

And while revenues for the father of two’s business sunk to zero during the cleanup, the expenses kept rolling in. This was partly by choice: even when there was no work, Rash paid his employees.

“I still took care of my workers, I paid them in full every week,” Rash said, admitting that there were a “lot of out-of-pocket expenses.”

“Five weeks off is a lot. Those bills keep coming in, and you still have to pay them.”

Suffice it to say, Rash “wanted to get back in business as soon as possible.”

He did.

'We Have Some Very Loyal Customers'

Two months later, Narberth Pizza is back.

Rebuilt in its own image—“The shop looks just like it did before. We didn’t really change anything,” its owner said—the home of the best pizza in the Main Line, according to Main Line Today, started doing takeout a few weeks ago, and opened its refurbished dining area just last week.

Rash said the reception has been humbling.

“The summer is typically a slower time, but our numbers are where they were last year. Our customers are really, really happy to have us back. It’s been a great welcome. They’re really supportive.”

As a gesture of thanks for this support, Rash is hosting a grand re-opening party and customer appreciation day on Sunday.  From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., slices of pizza are gratis, full pies are just $7, and free T-shirts will be handed out to the first 50 guests.

“We’ve got some really great, loyal customers,” Rash said. “They’re in all the time.”

The little pizza shop weathered quite a storm.


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