Dudley Dough to Close at the End of the Year

Roxbury’s Dudley Dough — the pizza restaurant arm of the Haley House nonprofit organization — will close at the end of this year, according to a post on Boston Restaurant Talk and confirmed by the Boston Globe. Dudley Dough’s mission has been to offer its employees fair wages while training them for the job market.

In a public statement, Haley House executive director Bing Broderick wrote:

While much good has come from Dudley Dough, sales have not met expectations. Our very compelling and aspirational vision for a fair-wage pizza shop was vital and appreciated, but after two years of operation, it is still far from breakeven, which is necessary for its success (to be able to elevate staff wages further, which is a central tenet of the mission). Our board determined that Haley House could not continue to subsidize it — to remain open would involve jeopardizing Haley House for the future. Last month, based on close business analysis of operations and trends, our board made the very difficult decision to close Dudley Dough by the end of the year.

Dudley Dough has been an integral part of the Roxbury community since opening its doors in 2015 — it’s provided workers with fair-wage jobs and has also been the site of local math tutoring program Pie R Squared. Every weekday but Friday, the pizzeria provides students involved in the program with free pizza.

Pie R Squared’s director Beth Seger told the Globe that despite Dudley Dough’s imminent closure, the program will continue to operate out of the lobby of the Bolling Building.

Update, 12:30 p.m.: Broderick sent Eater an additional comment via email regarding employment prospects for Dudley Dough employees:

I have been meeting one-on-one with every staff member to discuss their goals and interests for employment. Three of the staff have already lined up plans for future employment. I have not asked them the pay rates of their next placement, but they seem like good opportunities. Some staff are interested in pursuing trades, etc, so each case is handled individually.

• Dudley Dough in Roxbury Is Closing [BRT]
• Dudley Dough, a Fair-Wage Pizza Shop, to Close Its Doors [BG]