The Battle of Walkerton

Kevin O'Connor & the Defiant Survival of Memories Pizza

When Kevin O'Connor opened Memories Pizza in 2006 in his hometown of Walkerton, Indiana, it was a classically American entrepreneurial move. He borrowed $25,000 to buy equipment and furnishings, spruced the place up with fresh paint, installed new flooring, hung photos of country music singers and other celebrities, and brought in an upright piano to be played by anyone, employee or customer, so musically inclined. An army veteran and employee of the nearby town of Mishawaka, he did the startup labor himself in his spare time. He named the restaurant, which seats about 34, "Memories" as a nostalgic nod to an earlier, simpler era. Completing the retro feel, the streetscape out front could easily have doubled...