Pizza Joint becomes latest Portland-area business to feel a lot of love a little too late [Video]

SOUTH PORTLAND — By 9 a.m. the day before the Pizza Joint was closing for good, about a dozen people had lined up outside.

Some had been trying for days to place one last order, but phone lines were jammed or had been taken off the hook by swamped staffers. So customers went out at breakfast time on a Saturday to place a pizza order for lunch or dinner, or for the next day’s lunch or dinner. Some drove 45 minutes for the chance to get one last Pizza Joint pie.

It was like that for the final week and a half at the Pizza Joint shops in Portland and South Portland – since the owners announced that the 47-year-old business would close for good on April 14. Both locations were soon four times busier than usual. During that time, South Portland manager Patty Young and her staff worked hard to try and keep up with …