Steve Sapmaz, owner of Papa’s Pizzeria in Edwardsburg, and employee Jason Duncan have high hopes to take the 17-year-old business to a new level by increasing its presence on social media sites like Facebook. (Argus photo/JESSICA SIEFF)

By JESSICA SIEFF

Edwardsburg Argus

Steve Sapmaz, owner of Papa’s Pizzeria, believes in three things: the value of a handshake, people and pizza.

Add to that a belief in new ideas.

Those core beliefs are coming into play over at Papa’s Pizzeria, just of M-62 in Edwardsburg, these days.

The business is more than just an area staple for some. For Sapmaz, the small storefront where he’s made his living for 17 years started out as a way to feed his need to be home with  his family and it has become quite a successful business venture, spawning multiple stores and a potential fore more in the near future.

Making it safe to say, Sapmaz is really cooking over at Papa’s Pizzeria — and he’s not quite finished yet.

Long before he became known as “Papa,” Sapmaz was working as a manufacturing consultant for the auto industry, traveling often.

“I was working for the big three,” he said. “One day, I was in Minnesota,” when he called his wife and heard his son’s voice in the background. “That made me think a little bit,” he said.

It was then, he said he knew it was time to come off the road.

He returned to Edwardsburg.

“My kids always said, ‘Dad, you make a great pizza at home…”

He took those words to heart and opened up Papa’s Pizzeria 17 years ago. Of course, he said owning one’s own small business is no easy job. It can be a lot of long hours, “but the bottom line is after I get done, I go home, not to a hotel.”

He credits a few things for his success. For one, Sapmaz said he has built his business on old school values and even an old school manner of cooking — using the highest quality ingredients, finding a recipe enjoyed by his customers and sticking to it.

“Just like any product, we had to go through a debugging system,” Sapmaz says of his early days behind Papa’s counter. Eventually, however, he found a recipe that stuck, a philosophy that includes an openness with customers that comes acrosslike an old friend.

Sapmaz knows his customers by the sound of their voice on the other end of the phone.

Over time, he’s opened a handful of other stores, sold all but the original location in Edwardsburg. Those pizza places made changes to the menu and Sapmaz is no longer affiliated wtih them.

His store in Edwardsburg remains the original. And as such, Sapmaz is preparing to take it to the masses.

In the hopes his son will take over the business and with a passion for pizza and possibility, Sapmaz and Papa’s employee Jason Duncan are taking the pizzeria into the social media world, developing a Facebook and Twitter account for business. They are also taking a look at possible entertainment industry opportunities.

The two are excited about the possible additional success that awaits.

Sapmaz is confident in his plans and in the people who call him ‘Papa.’

“In a small town,” he said, “you do things right from the beginning. You gain teh loyalty of the community — and you’re a success from the start,” he said.