Introduction
Historical Information Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor is a popular, family-friendly pizza chain predominantly located in the Upper Midwest. Joe Whitty opened up the first Happy Joe’s Restaurant in East Davenport, Iowa on November 16, 1972. While working as a supervisor and a manager for Shakey’s Pizza, in the late sixties, he thought about combining a pizza and ice cream parlor because he always noticed customers walking down the street to get ice cream after leaving the restaurant. Joe had suggested this idea to the owner of Shakey’s but he had very little interest in pursuing it. After spending some time in Albuquerque, New Mexico operating three separate Shakey’s locations, Joe returned to Davenport, Iowa after nearly being fired for sponsoring a special needs party before asking his boss. Davenport is where Joe used to manage a SuperValue Bakery and then became the dietary director at Mercy Hospital after reopening the bake shop there by request of the nuns. (Happyjoes.com)
When returning to Davenport, Joe was determined to pursue his dream of opening a different kind of restaurant. He wanted to open up a restaurant that would be family and kid oriented; one that combined pizza, ice cream. After many attempts to get a loan, the Figges of Davenport Bank saw some value in Joe’s idea and agreed to lend him thirty-thousand dollars to open up the first Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor. (Happyjoes.com) He wanted to create a restaurant that was different than the pizza places around which Joe described to be more like “dark beer taverns that sold pizza.” Happy Joe’s created a much different experience, “When we came in, we were bright and cheery and exciting—birthday parties, blowing the horn, blaring the siren, making ice cream sundaes. It was different”, he said. One day, a franchisee suggested to Joe that he add tacos to the menu but