We met a wonderful warm, humble man and his family yesterday morning…at the grand opening of his new 115,000 sq ft facility in our town.<\/p>\n
Orphaned at age 7 in his native Greece after Communist insurgents killed his parents. An uncle brought him to Houston at age 15 along with his brother and sister. He started school at age 15 to learn english. His first job was delivering newspapers, ultimately growing his Sunday route to over 325 subscribers. He also worked in grocery store after school for 59 cents per hour until he graduated High School. He joined the US Army, became a member of the 82nd Airborne and served in Germany.<\/p>\n
Upon his return to the US he and his brother started a household deodorant manufacturing and sales business in their garage with $250. they borrowed. They operated that business until 1978 when they sold it to Coca-Cola. At the same time in 1960 he also opened and ran a pizzeria in downtown Houston where oil well firefighters were the regulars. <\/p>\n
In 1975 he and his family introduced the gyro sandwich to Houston with the opening a restuarant named after his wife, Athena. It became a hangout for now famous news reporters and other notables.<\/p>\n
In 1984 George started Alpha Foods Company, then being the only frozen pizza distribution company west of the Mississippi. He filled a niche by focusing on providing frozen pizza to schools and military installations. He built Alpha into a world-wide distribution company, including being the primary distributor for the US Air Force. (I’m certain there’s an untold story there relating to his Airborne days.)<\/p>\n
In 1988 George expanding into pizza manufacturing, choosing only the highest quality ingredients because his focus is on the experience<\/strong> of the end consumer. “Taste, texture and smell are the most important features of our product”. <\/p>\n In 1992 he began planning his expansion which culminated this week in the opening of his 115,000 sq ft facility in our little town of Waller. He will create 50 new jobs for the people of our town and has plans to triple that in the next 10 years.<\/p>\n George didn’t do all this alone – he gives primary credit to God, his wife of 47 years, Athena and their children. He is CEO, she is company president and his 3 children and their spouses are the senior management team. George has built his business with When I asked him which of his many accomplishments he was most proud of his immediate response was; “America and her people – for creating the opportunity to pursue our dreams.” We met a wonderful warm, humble man and his family yesterday morning…at the grand opening of his new 115,000 sq ft facility in our town. Orphaned at age 7 in his native Greece after Communist insurgents killed his parents. An … Continue reading
\nthe intention that his kids and their kids will continue to build and operate the business.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nSo the next time your kids have pizza at school, remember George, adversity, hard work, perseverance and Faith, for it is very likely Alpha Foods that delivered it to their school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"