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MOD Pizza
American fast-casual pizza chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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MOD Pizza is an American fast-casual pizza restaurant chain based in Seattle, Washington.[3][4] Founded in 2008, MOD has more than 460 locations as of December 2024[update] in the United States and 2 locations in Canada.[5][6]
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Concept and products
The company's name is an acronym which stands for "Made on Demand." MOD Pizza operates as a build-your-own style restaurant, where the food is made in front of the customer on-demand.[7]
History
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MOD Pizza was established in 2008 in Seattle, Washington, by co-founders Scott and Ally Svenson. The Svensons previously founded the Seattle Coffee Company, a coffee company based in the United Kingdom, which they sold to Starbucks in 1998.[8] Afterwards, Scott stayed on as president of Starbucks Europe.[citation needed]
The Svensons also helped found Carluccio's Ltd., an Italian restaurant in the U.K.[8] After moving back to their home town of Bellevue, Washington, the Svensons started MOD Pizza after being unable to find fast, affordable healthy meals for their four sons.[citation needed]
James Markham, who had previously started pizza parlors in San Diego, California and Shanghai, China, was also a part of the founding team and helped develop the house recipes used by MOD.[9] The restaurant's first location was in Union Square and was followed by additional Seattle locations.[10]
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By 2010, Markham had left MOD Pizza due to what he later characterized as a dispute in direction with the Svensons. He subsequently started a California-based chain set on MOD's "DIY" pizza concept called Pieology.[9]
Growth and expansion
In 2013, the restaurant chain was named one of the United States' "Top 50 Breakout Brands" by Nation's Restaurant News.[11]
By 2014, MOD Pizza had 31 locations in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. The same year the company secured $15 million in private investment.[12]
In 2015, MOD Pizza raised $40 million in new funding for a total of $70 million in investment capital to fund an aggressive national growth strategy.[13] The main investor was the private equity fund PWP Growth Equity. MOD's growth is also accelerated by the addition of several franchise partnerships.[14] The business reached the 1,700-employee milestone in August 2015.[15]
In March 2016, MOD Pizza announced that they had secured $32 million in a funding round and had plans to expand to 190 stores.[16] In June, the company opened their first international location in Leeds, United Kingdom.[17]
Additional expansion in the United Kingdom with joint venture partner Sir Charles Dunstone and his business partner, Roger Taylor, began in 2015.[18] MOD named John Nelson, formerly of Nando's, Ltd. (U.K.), as their CEO of U.K. operations in January 2016.[19] MOD Pizza closed all nine UK locations in 2020.[18]
In its tenth year of business, MOD announced the opening of its 300th location in 2018.[20]
Closures and acquisition
On January 9, 2024 It was announced that founder Scott Svenson would be stepping down to a new role as Executive Chairperson, and Beth Scott, previously of Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants would take over as CEO.[21]
In April 2024, MOD Pizza abruptly shuttered 27 restaurants permanently as part of a mass downsizing.[22]
In July 2024, rumors circulated of a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, though this never occurred. By this time, the company had closed 44 restaurants.[23] The company blamed closures on declining sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest costs as part of the decision.[24][25] A spokesperson said the closed stores were experiencing "sustained under-performance" and "were closed due to unfavorable lease and site decisions made during a period of rapid expansion prior to the pandemic".[23]
On July 10, 2024, MOD reached an agreement to sell itself to Elite Restaurant Group. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.[26]
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See also
References
External links
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