20 years after ‘The Office’ premiered, cameos still paying off for Scranton businesses

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When Ryan Cooper first heard that the American version of The Office would be set in his hometown of Scranton, he “really didn’t know what to think.”

“My wife is a big Britcom fan, so … we’d watched The Office, the British one, before,” he told PA Local by phone. “In that one, they kind of downplay the area they’re in. It doesn’t make it look too good. So I think the big thing we were worried about was that they didn’t make Scranton look, you know, look bad.”

Luckily for Cooper, a member of the third generation in his family to run Cooper’s Seafood House at Pine Street and Washington Avenue, that was not the case.

In fact, the show has drawn so many of its fans to Scranton — and Cooper’s, in particular — that it’s made a lasting mark on the family business.

“We have people that come from all over the world,” Cooper said. “I’ve met people from Australia that came in for New Year’s Eve, and they’re going to New York City, and they stop here in Scranton first. … Every single day we have people in here because of The Office.”

The pilot episode of the beloved nine-season NBC mockumentary focusing on a fictional Scranton paper company aired on March 24, 2005, and it’s more than proved its staying power since then. The series wrapped up in 2013, but it’s also been a wildly popular choice during the streaming era.

The show isn’t 100% accurate to life in Scranton (for example, you won’t find a Benihana, Hooters, or train to Philly in town), but the producers did make a point of paying homage to local culture.

That manifested in a number of ways: using footage of actual Scranton locations; scattering items throughout the California-based set that were collected from local businesses at “prop drops” in Scranton; and making real-life mom-and-pop shops part of central plot points.

Cooper’s Seafood House popped up several times on the show. Characters mention the restaurant multiple times, fan favorite Dwight Schrute dons one of its T-shirts, and office manager Michael Scott dines there in a season five episode. Before shooting, a crew from the show came to Scranton to film B-roll outside the actual restaurant and study the inside so they could recreate a version back in Hollywood, Cooper told PA Local.

Founded in 1948 by Cooper’s grandfather, the restaurant is a local fixture. But its 15 minutes of fame seem to have earned it name recognition beyond belief.

“We’ll be on a cruise, and you’ll be in the Bahamas with a Cooper’s shirt on, and they’ll be like, ‘Cooper’s? You guys are from The Office, right?’” Cooper said. “You’re like, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Another established local business, Alfredo’s Cafe, also made a notable cameo on the show. In a season four episode, Michael announces to the office that he’s ordered pizza from their “favorite pizza place, Alfredo,” which prompts a very important question from the staff.

“Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe?” Kevin Malone from finance asks. “Or, Pizza by Alfredo?”

The pizza Michael had ordered, it turned out, was from Pizza by Alfredo, a fictional shop where you may as well be “eating a hot circle of garbage,” Kevin explains to the documentary crew. Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe, on the other hand, is where the “good pizza” is.

Alfredo’s, known for its rectangular pies, didn’t see a “significant increase” in business as a result of the show, Leslie Galacci, who owns the restaurant with her husband Don, told PA Local by email. But it “definitely helps” direct out-of-town fans of the show to the pizzeria when they’re in Scranton, she added.

“On rare occasions we will get a customer or fan who will ask if the rival one is a real place (which obviously it is not),” Galacci wrote. “It always gives us another chuckle.”

Tourists often take photos in the parking lot or buy something from the 43-year-old pizzeria’s original array of Office-themed souvenirs, per Galacci. The restaurant sells T-shirts, mugs, and other merch labeled with the phrase “Home of the ‘Good Pizza.’”

Cooper’s, too, has embraced the demand for merch from Office enthusiasts. It started with a comment from a customer about 10 years ago, who suggested they sell trophies modeled off the show’s “Dundie” awards, Cooper said. He recalls buying a set of 10 from a local trophy maker and selling out in about a week.

After that, the staff at Cooper’s started actively tracking down Office-related merch to resell, even attending gift shows in New York. They transformed their previously nautical-themed gift shop into a hub for fans, which has basically become “its own business now,” Cooper said.

Beyond fans’ anytime, self-guided tours, special Office-related events have drawn big influxes of fans to Scranton from time to time, like an annual 5K where people dress up like their favorite characters. The first race in 2022 drew around 300 runners or walkers, and last year’s edition had over 1,500 participants.

Tim Holmes, now the CEO of the Everhart Museum, was involved with organizing early efforts to draw fans — and the people involved with the show — to town, like a 2007 convention.

“We were beginning to see people from all over the states driving through downtown Scranton and just kind of rubbernecking around town,” Holmes, who used to work in marketing and events for Times-Shamrock Communications, said of the show’s early days on the air.

He went on to help throw a 2013 “wrap party” that drew around 10,000 attendees, and said he also organized occasional Office-themed tours around town for a time. Those drew people from all over the world who were “absolutely blown away” by real-life Scranton (and the fact that it actually exists), Holmes said.

Now, he’s putting together an Office exhibit at the Everhart Museum, so that fans have something to “dig their teeth into” whenever they choose to visit.

The plan is for the “semi-permanent” installation to include an explanation of the story arcs in each season, a look into who the writers were, a rotating set of “super recognizable” props on loan from NBC, and “every single Scranton mention,” Holmes said. There’s no firm opening date yet, but he said it should be on view starting sometime this summer.

The sitcom has been a real “game changer” for the city’s image, Holmes said. In his view, interest generated by the show has helped Scranton shake its old reputation as “past its prime,” which he said doesn’t reflect the current reality.

“As far as Office fans go,” Galacci, of Alfredo’s, said, “it put Scranton on the map.”

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