Rockford Duo Revives Albertville Jimmy’s Pizza

The "pizza wars" here in Albertville have taken some strange turns lately. First, Jimmy's shut down, suddenly, in March. Then, a family emergency forced management to shutter Pizza Man here in Albertville.

Now, Jimmy's is attempting to "re-launch."

New Jimmy’s Pizza co-owner Nick Qualle took a break from getting pizza ingredients prepped and could only crack a smile.

“It’s been pretty crazy. We’ve heard from people how happy they are to have us back,” Qualle said. “The first day we were able to open, which was Sunday the 15^th, it showed. We had a nice day in sales.”

Qualle and partner Bill Decker had their eye on the Jimmy’s Pizza franchise after Andy Thompson decided to fly solo with Andy’s Hometown Pizza last year. Instead, they took on Rockford, and have been a pleasant success, Qualle said.

“I think the main thing we wanted to show people how big a part of the community we can be,” Qualle said. “We’re both involved with the fire department, and each Tuesday we try to give back with donations from our sales.”

Both are Rockford firefighters, too.

“We definitely want to use the same formula. It’s up to us to get out there and find the groups we can help out and become a part of that,” Qualle said. “We’ve been out to all the schools, we’ve reached out to teachers and students with some flyers. I think they know if we give back, they’ll give back to us. “

As far as the food, Jimmy’s will be the “same old Jimmy’s that people really enjoyed here,” Qualle said.

“This was one of the more successful stores the franchise had, and there’s still a place for us here,” Qualle added.

Qualle said the menu will be similar, with a couple of tweaks. Prices will be lower than the manager who had the last run with Jimmy’s.

“If you can make a good, two-topping pizza and get that out for $10, you can compete. There are seven different [delivery] competitors up here. But we think we can find our niche, for sure,” he said.

For now, Jimmy’s is open ever evening at 4 p.m., and delivers until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until midnight both Friday and Saturday, and until 9 p.m. Sundays. The store, which is located in the old 's spot, can be reached at 763-497-1497.

“We’re going to be adding a lunch of some sort once we get rolling, so those hours should bump back out to 11 a.m. every day once we have that started,” Qualle said.