Fourth generation Cochranite Tim Hall couldn’t have launched his business venture at a better time.
A few weeks ago Hall had a revelation and his whole plan came together in a few weeks. His success is remarkable, especially since the coronavirus outbreak has sent small business owners into a tailspin all over the world.
“I can’t believe it,” Hall said from home. The 48-year-old is no stranger to the kitchen and has years of experience in the food industry. Inspired by a popular 1980s-era Cochrane pizza place, and a head full of memories, Hall has resurrected the name Lucky Penny Pizza.
“Three weeks ago I was literally sitting on my couch with my head in my hands saying ‘what the hell am I going to do’? One week later I was standing in front of a semi trailer delivering my cheese.”
All of his 9” handmade pizzas are named for Cochrane nostalgia and, as Hall hopes, will evoke warm conversations around the fire pit or dinner table. The Dam Day Teriyaki Chicken Pizza features grilled chicken, apple and cherrywood smoked bacon, spring onions, pineapple, mozzarella, cheddar and provolone.
The name Dam Day is inspired by the last day of Grade 12 when a handful of students would skip school and jump off Ghost Dam into Ghost Lake, explains Hall with a chuckle. His A1 cheeseburger pizza is named after a diner that Hall and his Cochrane High School friends would frequent on lunch breaks.
“Two weeks after I started this pizza thing the coronavirus exploded and became quite serious.” With residents hunkered down in their homes, Hall has been delivering vacuum-packed frozen pizzas on door steps around the clock. In the weeks since his business started Hall has sold 300 pizzas. He’s at the point now where he’s not sure how he will be able to keep up.
He’s been working out of three Alberta Health Services approved kitchens, two in Cochrane and one in northeast Calgary. For the volume of pizzas he’s preparing he requires a lot of space.
“I’m having a riot doing this.”
Hall worked with his parents for more than 20 years at North Forty Feed and Farm Supply on Railway Street in Cochrane. When his parents sold the business and retired about six years ago, Hall picked up his camera and made a name for himself. Some of his photos have even graced the pages of Canadian Geographic.
“We’ve seen all the changes,” Hall said about Cochrane’s transformation since his childhood.
“There are so many of us that have grown up here and with all these new franchises coming in and these conglomerates, the ma and pa businesses are disappearing. It’s sad to see that.”
Hall is working on getting his website up and running. For now, all inquiries can be made on his Facebook page Lucky Penny Pizza or by calling 587-890-6905.
