Millville Means Business Profile

For over half a century, pizza has been a way of life for Joe Pierce. Joe has been owner of Bim’s Pizza on East Main Street for 43 of those 50 years. But his pizza career started almost by accident, as a Millville youngster. Joe was born and raised here.

“I had a paper route as a kid,” Joe recalls. “I was collecting one day and one of my customers was a pizza place. The owner asked me what I was doing tonight,” he says. Whatever Joe’s answer was, the pizza guy had another plan. He encouraged Joe to come back and work. “I told him I didn’t know anything about pizza and he said ‘that’s OK, you can run register.’ That’s how I got into the pizza business, back in 1969,” Joe says.

Since then, he’s been crafting pizzas the traditional way, one at a time. “I make the dough, the sauce and my cheese blend, fresh every day. I make every pizza, all by hand,” Joe says. He says his customers appreciate the quality and consistency. Bim’s customers know what they’re getting with no surprises or ups and downs, week to week.

He also goes out of his way to tailor the recipe for his regulars. “For new customers, I make my regular pizza. But I tell them there’s a lot we can change. If you want more or less cheese, sauce, or cooked more or not so much, I’ll make it just how you like it,” Joe says.

That honest approach and dedication to doing things right has built a loyal fan base over four decades. “When I started in this business, I learned a saying. ‘If you like it, tell your friends. If you don’t like it, tell us.’ That’s how I’ve run my business and my customers appreciate it,” he says.