Eaton’s is carving a distinct segment with its pizzas of the month | Ozaukee Co. Enterprise Information

GRAFTON – Eaton’s Fresh Pizza has been all about perfecting recipes. So what sort of concoction would owner Corey Faust need to successfully open and operate a fourth location? It’s more than just a few simple ingredients.

Eaton’s, which maintains two Fond du Lac locations and one in West Bend, recently surpassed its two-year anniversary at its Grafton site. Faust knew the time would come to expand its reach, and Grafton has been nothing short of a welcome locale for business.

“The last year has been 100% growth,” Faust said. “My manager and I have been working really hard to fine tune our levels of inventory and making sure our product is always fresh. Between that and the growth of our employees, it really makes our business thrive.”

Eaton’s specialty is take-and-bake pizza. Up until recently it offered sub sandwiches, but Faust removed them from the menu after seeing a decrease in dine-in customers and decided to focus solely on pizza.

That move has allowed Faust and his team to craft some spectacularly unique pies in recent months. In addition to the standard fare, Eaton’s boasts its most popular selection, the Mexican street corn pizza, offered in May as its Pizza of the Month. This month’s special is the loaded baked potato pizza, which Faust says is a close second in demand.

Other seasonal favorites include the barbecue pork pizza in August, the jalape–o Popper pizza for Lent, and a chicken-and-waffles pizza. Faust said every summer he has a party for his employees where new menu items are brainstormed and voted on.

“We really ramp it up and they get excited,” he said. “It’s a good way to try something different. We have specific people who will only get the pizza of the month and there are those who just like the traditional pizzas. It’s nice to be able to give people whatever they want.”

Eaton’s uses as many local ingredients and vendors as possible. Eaton’s is also unique in that it relies less on traditional marketing and advertising and actually gets most of its foot traffic through word of mouth. These curious customers oftentimes turn out to be loyal customers who make regular appearances, sometimes on a weekly basis.

“We’re always fine tuning our products, and the customers notice it and they tell their friends and relatives,” Faust said. “I just can’t believe how much excitement we constantly get from people all over. We get a lot of people who come in and then push their neighbors and family members. Almost every time I ask a new person how they heard of us, it’s a referral. That’s really different than other places which may need to really push the ads.”

Faust is proud to have a youthful workforce; many employees are high school students. Faust even went as far as changing Eaton’s hours to 8 a.m. until 7 p.m., since child labor laws require minors not to work earlier than 7 a.m. or later than 7 p.m.

Faust enjoys instilling essential skills to help his employees grow both professionally and personally, such as being able to take direction and interacting with customers in person or via phone. He credits his managers, Tiana Boone and Heather Ferdinand, as well as his assistant manager Maddie Beatty, with executing supervisory tasks to perfection.

“Developing communication skills is very important,” Faust said. “I would never have opened without developing the right manager because that is the essential driving force of success. Knowing what they need and helping continue with their growth.”

Opening in Grafton in December 2021 just ahead of a COVID spike was a challenging endeavor for Faust. Although the pandemic itself is no longer the hurdle it once was, Faust is still battling supply chain shortages and the associated erratic price fluctuations. It’s just part of the nature of operating a business, Faust said, and no business is immune from these issues.

“It’s not easy to make changes to anything,” he said. “I’m speaking on behalf of a lot of other businesses too. When the prices for ingredients go up by 50%, there have been times where I’ve had to eat the cost. I will take a couple of hits if I have to ensure that people are getting a great, quality product.”

Faust is committed to providing Grafton with affordable and delicious products, and he is not limiting it to just the confines of its building. At the start of the pandemic, Eaton’s sent 100 care packages with pizzas and breadsticks to people in need in West Bend. It will also be donating pizzas to Kennedy Elementary School’s upcoming carnival. Being involved in the community was always a priority effort for Faust.

“My hope is to continue expanding our community partnerships,” Faust said. “We do so many fundraisers for schools and sports teams. Continuing to do that is really what my drive is. I think the focus is to grow within this community and make Grafton amazing.”

Eaton’s Fresh Pizza is located at 1615 Wisconsin Ave. in Grafton, and at 830 E. Paradise Drive in West Bend.