Feeling the Pulse of the Homesick

A few months after my daughter had got me to try Facebook, my mother brought me a pizza from my hometown--Kraus' Pizza.  The first of this regional chain's shops is in the northeast side of Massillon, Ohio.

After I ate it, I took a picture of the box cover and started a Facebook fan page with the photo.

That was February 2009.

Eighteen months later, Facebook.com/KrausPizza has over 6,000 "Likes" and an amazing 902 active monthly users.

There are "Likes" from more than 20 countries and the page is translated by Facebook into 19 different languages.

A recent post asked, "I wish there was a Kraus' Pizza shop in __________."  Over 130 people filled in the blanks with comments ranging from the obvious like Florida or Tennessee or some such other place where natives of Northeast Ohio have been displaced to the clever, like "My kitchen," to, even, "Kandahar, Afghanistan."

It's obvious.  Isn't it?  This thing can make money somehow.

I feel like I should turn the keys to this business-making page to the Kraus family.  I've tried.  After contact with the owner's children, I merely got encouragement to continue.

My homesick love of Kraus' Pizza is my motivator for an occasional posting of a pizza photo or an interaction-sparking question to keep the site alive.  I'll keep doing it.

However, I hope someone with the Kraus' chain figures out how to tap this though.  Half-baked pizzas shipped on dry ice?  A national chain with stores all over the world?

You never know what you find when you feel the pulse of the homesick.