30 January 2008: Saving Money By Not Buying Sbarro

I currently am cutting out any unnecessary expenses to fund my spring break trip to Prague. As a result, when I met a friend for coffee over the dinner hour at Sbarro, I declined joining her for dinner. I would keep her company while she ate. However, while I sat there, I realized that there was another reason why I didn't want to eat at Sbarro. I didn't want to eat at Sbarro because I was prejudice against it.

My first experience with Sbarro was here at Notre Dame when it was first introduced in LaFortune basement. I remember also remember that my first group meeting at Notre Dame was held in LaFortune basement. It was cold, damp, and dark. The cold and dampness creates an unwelcome environment for me. Yet, here I was today, downstairs in the basement by Sbarro. I realized that one reason why I did not want to eat Sbarro was because I transferred my dislike for LaFortune basement to Sbarro based upon its location only and not because of trial.

Secondly, my first experience with pizza by the slice was at the mall. Food courts give me the exact same feeling as the basement of LaFortune. As a teen, my parents would give me $5 for dinner on band trips. My parents often did not take me to various places to eat, so I often was so overwhelmed by the selection at the mall food court that I opted for the status quo (McDonalds). Furthermore, I never could afford anything at the other slots. As such, today I transfered that feeling of being overwhelmed and awkwardness to Sbarro (and to all other pizza by the slice places). Regardless of how delicious my friend's spaghetti and salad looked, it still did not inspire me to go to Sbarro. Regardless of the low prices ($2.99 for a personal pizza), it still did not inspire me to go to Sbarro, although it now started to counteract my internal value metric towards pizza by the slice. Sbarro has a lot to overcome to inspire me to patronize it. However, if it moved out of the basement and had a place to sit down inside its area, I might be inclined to buy. For me, saving money did mean not buying Sbarro, but even if I had money, I wouldn't have bought food from there anyway.

Sbarro managers may take my dislike for Sbarro and transform its marketing towards the teenage mall subculture. To appeal to teens that are similar to my teenage self, Sbarro should make Sbarro more approachable. Eliminate the awkwardness of Sbarro and capitalize upon teenage angst. You might be overwhelmed at the food court, but at Sbarro, we are so friendly that we will select a piece of pizza for you if you freeze. That approach creates a completely different mall experience that may have appealed to me. Furthermore, at LaFortune, I would move Sbarro upstairs or next to Reckers to minimize the 'grungy' environmental impacts on Sbarro sales. Few people want to eat grungy pizza.