Basic HTML Version
PHOTO CREDIT TK - REMOVE IF EMPTY
a traditional sign above the awning.
Instead, it just had its Twitter handle,
@NakedPizza. People took to the site to
say what they wanted in a healthy pizza
joint, and the co-founders incorporated
that feedback into themenu. “We literally
built our business around what people
were saying on Twi er,” Vitrano says.
That Web-f irst approach got the
attention of Mark Cuban, who in 2009
invested in Naked Pizza and introduced
the owners to the Kraft Group, which
owns theNewEnglandPatriots and other
enterprises. Kra decided to invest too,
and today Naked Pizza has nearly 500
shops worldwide. “We’re about to open
a place in Nairobi,” Vitrano says with a
laugh that suggests even he can’t quite
believe it.
Success sometimes leads business
owners in midsize markets like New
Orleans to relocate to larger, more
moneyed cities. But part of the genius of
the Idea Village, Vitrano says, is its loca-
tion. It took Vitrano 10 years living in L.A.
to understand that no place was as fun
and freaky as NewOrleans. “I realize now
how special a place this is,” he says. He’s
not alone.
PAUL KIX,
an editor at
ESPN the Magazine,
wishes his Connecticut neighborhood had
a good voodoo bar.
JULY 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
RIEDEL.COM