This commemorative edition includes all of the features published with the Chaldean Story series, made possible with generous support from Michigan Stories, a Michigan Humanities Grants initiative.
ECONOMICS & ENTERPRISE
ECONOMICS & ENTERPRISE That’s Amore Tania’s looks to expand its ‘stuffed pizza’ footprint BY PAUL NATINSKY Above: Tania’s famous stuffed pizza. Right: Amos Sheena with parents Muntaha and Ihsan. Tania’s Pizza has long been an iconic Royal Oak institution. Nestled in an unassuming little strip mall behind a Sunoco station at the corner of 13 Mile Road and Crooks, Tania’s has been dishing out its signature stuffed pizza since 1987. The then-beer and wine shop began feeding hungry Kimball High School (now Royal Oak High School) students during their lunchbreak and after school, then the high schoolers’ families on weekends and eventually the broader community. Today, the store has expanded into an adjacent space, has added liquor to its offerings and is moving forward with plans to move its made-fromscratch pies onto grocery shelves. Despite its growth and ambitious plans, Tania’s remains a family business. Owner/operator Amos Sheena runs Tania’s along with parents Ihsan and Muntaha. Amos’ sister, Tania, handles the accounting, invoicing and other administrative duties. One other brother is a minority partner, and another is not presently involved in the business. Ihsan says all four children worked for the business until they were married. Ihsan chose to name the store for Tania, his only daughter and eldest child. Amos returned to Tania’s after graduating from college and starting a career in financial planning. He intends to expand the business and provide members of the community with career opportunities. He hopes his legacy will be sharing the business opportunity and a positive work culture with a larger family—the community. However, Tania’s and its stuffed pizza almost never happened. Ihsan worked selling real estate and operated grocery, beer-and-wine, and liquor stores in Detroit beginning in 1969. He ultimately sold his liquor store and began delivering pizzas for Domino’s Pizza with an eye toward becoming a franchisee. Then fate intervened. The Domino’s opportunity never materialized. At the same time, the business that was housed in the space Tania’s now occupies was going broke and selling. It was a beer-and-wine store that sold pizza. Ihsan and Muntaha took the money from the liquor store sale slated for a Domino’s franchise and put it toward buying the failing Roberto’s store. Ihsan had a longstanding fascination with pizza. He was now free to develop his unique blend of dough, sauce, cheese, and spices. He read trade magazines, talking to suppliers and other vendors. He worked with Muntaha to develop the stuffed pizza that only Tania’s serves. The pizza from Tania’s is difficult to describe. It is stuffed, but not super thick like Chicago-style pizza. It has a buttery, light, but sturdy crust and a construction that stays together in one’s hand. Tania’s pizza is delicious and addictive. Connoisseurs of Detroitarea pizza will not find anything like it. Not even close. Ihsan says many pizzerias over the years have tried unsuccessfully to imitate Tania’s pies. Amos, who says the recipe can be taught and the ingredients acquired, isn’t worried about anyone succeeding in eclipsing Tania’s. The business is about more than the pizza, he says. Tania’s works with Royal Oak High School administration to help students learn about business and sponsors sports teams and other community ventures. Involvement in the community is a direct outgrowth of traditional Chaldean culture for Ihsan, Muntaha, and family, who still get together every Sunday. As Tania’s professional family grows, it will take the road less traveled. Instead of expanding into multiple carry-out locations or sit-down restaurants, Tania’s has begun to move into the grocery and grocerydelivery space. Amos says Tania’s has received the USDA approval needed to sell meat products in grocery operations. This allows Tania’s to sell cook-at-home pizzas through grocery outlets. The pizzas are sold fresh, not frozen, in a vacuum seal-looking package that Amos says gives the pies a long shelf life, verified by lab-testing. They cook fast, in 6-12 minutes, and retain the quality and flavor of the cooked-toorder version (I home-tested one). Tania’s has arrangements with two Door Dash-owned stores that supply grocery items to the delivery service. Amos is working to get Tania’s into traditional grocery stores and expects this to happen “soon.” Even in grocery expansion, Amos says Tania’s considers family values. Rather than ordering a pizza to go or going out to a pizza restaurant, Tania’s business plans encourage families to cook pizzas at home and spend time together, he says. The story continues for the pizza place that almost wasn’t. And it continues its own way, keeping family and community values at its core. 58 CHALDEAN NEWS CHALDEAN STORY
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