Pizza Magic owners open new store in Whanganui East shopping centre

Raj Singh (left) and Amit Kumar have opened their newest Pizza Magic store in Whanganui.

"If you're doing good food, you can't go wrong."

That's the philosophy of Raj Singh and Amit Kumar who opened Pizza Magic in Moana St, Whanganui East, in late May.

Singh and Kumar moved to New Zealand from India 10 years ago to study at Wintec in Hamilton. In 2013 they decided to go into business together and opened their first Pizza Magic store in Stratford. They now have stores in New Plymouth and Hawera as well.

"We wanted to open a store in Whanganui East about three years back but someone else did," Singh said.

"Their business closed and when we looked at it again, we made a quick decision in about 10 minutes and decided we're doing it. We did the same when we opened in Stratford."

Kumar said they were told it was a good area and they would do well.

"People in Whanganui are very helpful and good to deal with," Kumar said.

Their focus was on making sure the food they sold was as fresh as possible.

"We want to do very good food," Singh said.

"If you're doing good food, you can't go wrong. We make the dough and everything fresh here every day. It's more labour cost than making more [bases] and freezing them but we want it to be fresh.

"We want to provide food that's affordable. It's about the regulars rather than huge numbers and people who come for a short time. This business is all about customer service."

They currently employ three staff in Whanganui and are planning to expand and employ more local people.

"We're very happy with how people have responded to our store in the first few weeks we've been open," Kumar said.

Singh said they had been amazed by the support for their business from their friends in New Zealand.

"It's a family thing. Coming from overseas and how people have accepted us has been amazing. You wouldn't get that support overseas if you started up a business."