CROWN POINT --- When Peter Anderson finds a good thing, he sticks with it.

The 33-year old owner of Gelsosomo's Pizzeria in Crown Point's Broadway corridor said the Italian food franchise is the only company he has ever known.

"It's really the only job I've ever had," Anderson said, explaining that he worked at the Gelsosomo's in Chesterton before getting his degree in marketing from Ball State University in 1997. "After graduation, I went to all the interviews, and I gradually realized that I didn't want to work for someone else."

Becoming a franchise owner was the next, logical step, Anderson said. Gelsosomo's Pizzeria was a natural choice not only because of his familiarity with the franchise but also because the young company was still growing.

Founder Tom Gelsosomo established his first Gelsosomo's Pizzeria in Portage in 1979 and formed the franchise in 1990.

Anderson's old stomping grounds in Chesterton were the first franchised location.

Since then, Gelsosomo's has opened locations in Valparaiso, Michigan City and St. Joseph, Mich.

The Crown Point store is the most recent addition. Known for very high standards in quality and freshness, the Gelsosomo's style is a good fit with Crown Point, Anderson said. The city's demographics indicate the higher scale of income that suits the upscale pizzeria, he said.

"We can't play the quantity game, but we do play the quality game," Anderson said.