In June 1991, they opened their first Little Caesars location in St. Lawrence County in Ogdensburg. Over the next several years they opened other locations in Potsdam and Massena. While business remained strong, decisions were made to close the Potsdam and Massena franchise locations and re-open the Ogdensburg store as Big Cheese Pizza in May 2000.

Building on their reputation of providing a good family value in relationship to price, Jerry and Debbie were able to keep prices low when Big Cheese Pizza opened. This is typically not the case when you own a franchise business. Most franchise owners are mandated to adhere to price increases. "This has been a great transition not only for us as owners but also for our customers," Jerry commented. As independent business owners they have also been able to respond to customer requests and new items such as the popular Pizza Rolls, Southern Bar-B-Que Ribs, garlic pizza and stuffed crust pizza have been added to the menu.

"We really enjoy dealing with people," commented Jerry. This is another reason why other new items such as an extra thin round and thin & thick square crust pizza, and garlic chicken pizza are also soon-to-be added to the menu.

Today, everything from the dough to the sauce is made fresh daily. Great care is also made to use local New York cheese.

*partial reprint from an article published on June 19th, 2001 in the County Pennysaver

Independent business owners, Jerry and Debbie Huttula, are celebrating more than their 1st year of business is Big Cheese Pizza, this month. They are also celebrating 10 years as successful business owners.