The idea of doing pizza kits at Idle Hour Lanes in Durant was being tossed around by owner Joel Carter, manager Austin Barclay, and staffer Ronda Carpenter, for quite some time. Then when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and they were unable to open for normal business, a local resident asked if they would be able to do the kits and Austin and Ronda made it happen.
The pizza kits (pictured) sell for $3 and include a dough ball, cheese, sauce and toppings. The customer spreads the dough and makes the pizza before cooking it at home. There are instructions given with each kit.
“We honestly had mixed opinions on if people would even be interested in it due to temporary layoffs and the limited hours we have available to sell them. However, the Durant and Wilton communities have totally shocked us by the number of orders we received,” Ronda said.
The first night Idle Hour sold 70 kits and now is averaging about 20-30 kits per day.
They make their own dough daily with special ingredients passed down from former owner Geoff Huston.
They have also thought about continuing to offer the kits in the future and believe with the success and positive feedback they have gotten, they will continue with it after the pandemic is over. They may raise the price by a dollar or so as it is time consuming to prep and has many components that go into it.
In addition to the pizza kits, Idle Hour Lanes has nightly grill and pizza specials at discounted prices. They were doing this even before the pandemic and will continue with it as everyone looks for deals. They post their daily specials on their Facebook page.
“We have had an unbelievable response from our community for the orders we still continue to receive nightly. We cannot thank people enough for using social media to spread the word about their children making our pizzas by themselves at home, or just enjoying our great food,” Carpenter said. “We really do have an amazing community!”