SCRANTON, Pa. — The doors of Brownie's Pizza have been closed for a couple of months now, and owner Bill Salerno made the tough decision to put the landmark business up for sale.
All is quiet inside Brownie's Pizza in west Scranton during lunchtime—no ringing phones, no customer chatter.
Owner Bill Salerno says the shop has been like this for a few months. He's had some health issues recently and feels bad about the normally busy shop being closed. Reluctantly, he decided to put the business up for sale.
"I couldn't go sign it. My blood pressure went up; I felt sick. I called the realtor, I said, 'I can't make it today.' I waited a week to sign the papers. I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn't."
Salerno says Brownie's has been a staple on Luzerne Street for about 70 years. If it weren't for his health, he'd still be serving up the pizza that he and his customers have loved for so long.
"It was fun, you know? I had a good run. I'm like an old athlete now. I'm retiring to greener pastures."
Brownie's remains closed until a new owner takes over, but Salerno says he hopes to give his customers the opportunity to get what they want one more time.
"I would like to reopen a little bit again just to see my customers one more time. I mean a lot of people, personally I got a lot of like heartwarming things like on the Facebook posts like, 'Get well.' And these people, I know them. They come in, and I know their first names, which you do after being open so long."
Salerno said the time was right, now that things are getting back to normal again. He hopes some young entrepreneur sees the opportunity to take over a turn-key business.
"They're going to get the recipes. They're going to get whatever I can do to help them make a success. Hopefully, they'll name it Brownie's, and they should, and that'll be it. You know they should do all right. They should do good. You know, it did my family good for a long time," Salerno added.
Salerno says he's thankful for the staff and loyal customers he's had over the years because the business wouldn't have been a success for so long without them.
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