Today we’d like to introduce you to Satchel Raye.
Hi Satchel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Jacksonville and went to Wolfson High School. At 16 years old I started working for a local Italian restaurant called Gubbio’s. I loved it. I loved everything about it, from making money to making food, to the hard work and the restaurant sounds. I went to college briefly in Gainesville for art but quickly realized that I could be an artist without being a student. I wanted to open my own pizza shop in Gainesville but I had no money. I traveled all through my 20’s, working restaurant jobs and making art when I was not traveling. I settled down with a lovely lady at 30 and worked as a dishwasher and did paintings and mosaic tile in my spare time. When my grandmother passed away in 2001 I inherited her house. I was able then to use the house as collateral to borrow money and open my own place.
I found a dump of a building on the edge of town but the rent was cheap and it had already been many failed restaurants so it had a decent setup. I started out alone, making food, ringing up customers, and cleaning up. We got a little busier and I hired someone to help. In my down time I repainted and redecorated, adding art and mobiles and character. I played good music and my pizza and salads were well received. Business grew and grew by word of mouth and 23 years later we are going strong with 65 employees and nearly 2 million dollars paid out annually in wages.
We’ve been through the financial crisis, 2 fires, and COVID. But our customers continue to support us and I am currently making more art than pizza. I make stained glass, paintings, mobiles, and mosaic tile. I try to add art frequently and I want my place to be an ongoing sculpture. We have 3 employees who have been with us since 2003, and over a dozen more staff over 10 years. It’s important to me to create good paying jobs with benefits. We all really enjoy working together.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have had many challenges. Fast growth in the first few years meant hiring fast. It was difficult to hire and train people and keep up with demand in the early days, There were other times we seemed to have more customers than we could handle in a timely manner. Customers often waited too long as we tried to keep up. In 2012 we had a fire in the kitchen from a crumbling wall behind the ovens. The kitchen was ruined and we had to close for over 3 months and rebuild the kitchen. In 2016 we had another fire in the bar behind the restaurant and the entire bar had to be rebuilt which took a year. When in house dining was stopped for COVID, we had to lay off half the staff. So we have had our share of setbacks but we have a strong team and loyal customers that have kept us going.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an artist who loves to paint. I paint abstract pieces that are often geometric. Every year for the last 30 years I’ve had a show of my current year paintings at my restaurant in the winter. Before the restaurant I was showing at another local restaurant where I worked. I often just do paintings but sometimes I combine collage elements like wallpaper of fabric in my works. Besides painting I also like to make stained glass windows and have made many for the restaurant and greenhouse behind the restaurant,. I used antique tiles to make mosaics for decades but in 2017 I began to make my own tiles. Now I make and fire my own tiles and then make mosaic from the tiles I make. Sometimes I design bright kitchen tiles but mostly tiles to cover the restaurant with mosaic. I like to make whirligigs that spin in the wind, and I like to make mobiles. Last year I made my first concrete sculpture and have plans to make more soon. I like to make things with wood also, and have built my studio and greenhouse, and some furniture. I’m known best for the restaurant which is an enormous ongoing art project. I’m glad to have the restaurant as a place to put my manic energy.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I spent a lot of time in the woods behind me house in jacksonville. There was a ditch and beyond the ditch was a golf course. I remember hunting for golf balls, cleaning them up with toothpaste and an old toothbrush, and then selling them to the golfers. I remember enjoying the freedom of exploring the woods and finding a way to make a little money.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://satchelspizza.com
- Instagram: lightnin_salvage_enterprises
- Facebook: satchels pizza
- Twitter: @SatchelsPizza
- Youtube: @SatchelsLive
- Other: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378786
