09/01/2026
I'd like to explain a few things about my previous post as I've clearly ruffled a few feathers with the proud long time residents of Sloan. I'd like to point out that Wally's wasn't always a staffless 1 man owner operated exclusively online late night business. We used to be a full service breakfast, lunch, and dinner Italian/pizza cafe (that served beer and wine) with an additional ice cream shop in the back of the property. We used to have a staff of close to 20 employees (most of which were from Sloan/Lovejoy). Back then, Sloan was still a decent blue collar working middle class neighborhood and our sales volume was decent enough and our operating costs weren't too high in order to sustain that type of large full service operation. But over time, the neighborhood declined (sales volume dropped) and operating costs (mainly product and labor cost) continuously climbed. Then the pandemic hit and to be honest, the dining business never really recovered. So eventually we were forced to abandon the breakfast and lunch hours as well as the dining service and the ice cream operation. At that point, we still had around 10 employees, a pretty large menu, and still offered an informal (counter service with no actual waitstaff) dining accommodations as well as takeout and delivery (with our own drivers). I even set up the dining area with a basketball shooting game and ski ball in an attempt to offer "family friendly" dining. Unfortunately, the neighborhood never really showed up (it was still post pandemic era) and my efforts were largely wasted. This was around the time when minimum wage was approaching $16/hr and my sales volume was still declining. I wasn't making any real profits and was pretty much operating just to pay the staff. So I started sending my staff home early and staying late by myself with a limited menu. I started doing really well (especially on Doordash and Uber Eats) and was making a good profit from midnight to 4 am. It was at this point that I realized that I had to transition to a staffless (serviceless) owner operated online based late night model in order to survive. The reason there's no service and it's only online is that 1 person can't do all the cleaning, prep, and cooking while simultaneously answering phones and cashing out. So I adapted to my environment and created a profitable model. Fast forward to now and there are many pizzerias doing a late night business (more competition) and operating costs (utilities and product cost) are through the roof. I'm ultimately putting in too many hours working insanely hard and not quite making the profit levels to justify it. So I made the hard decision and decide to go to tradeschool and become an HVAC technician where I will have the opportunity to actually get paid well for working hard. So to recap, I genuinely put my heart and soul into Wally's and tried everything I could to keep it going. I understand that some of you are very prideful of being from Sloan. But the truth of the matter is that the neighborhood never really supported Wally's to the level that was needed for it to sustain itself and continue to operate profitably. That's just reality and you don't need to be defensive or offended by it. It makes me sad that things couldn't work out. Wally's was my family's 2nd restaurant and I've been in this business for close to 30 years. It's not easy to walk away from your life's work. But I have to prioritize the needs of my family over my pride. I hope this clears up why Wally's is closing. And as always, stay hungry my friends!
