Struggling build your own pizza chain MOD Pizza has closed two more locations in metro Atlanta including those in Buford and East Cobb. The East Cobb closure, first reported by East Cobb News, and Buford follow the March closure of the chain's Chamblee unit.
Including the Chamblee closure, the Bellvue, Washington-based chain closed 26 locations in the first quarter of 2024, according to Restaurant Business Magazine. News spread in early July that the company, which had by the end of 2023 swelled to more than 550 locations, was in financial straits and was considering a bankruptcy filing. Days later the company was acquired by Elite Restaurant Group, a Los Angeles-based multi-unit restaurant holding company that has bought or sold several struggling restaurant chains in recent years.
MOD's East Cobb struggles could be tied to the departure of anchor tenant GreenWise Market, a Publix-owned grocer that opened to much fanfare in the complex in June 2020 but shuttered in December 2021. Its roughly 25,000 square foot anchor space remains vacant. MOD's Buford location was, on the other hand, part of a well tenanted, new-build center with several anchors including a huge Rooms To Go, Topgolf, and Andretti Karting & Games, among others.
Reports indicate that MOD Pizza has shuttered a total of 44 units, primarily company owned, since the start of the year.
MOD, which stands for "made on demand," was founded in Seattle in 2008, and today includes 505 locations across 28 states. Southern Pie, LLC, a franchise group led by Robbie Hill and his daughter Kimberly Hill Hayden, are owners of MOD stores in Georgia and Alabama.
Southern Pie's first MOD opened in 2017 in Kennesaw Marketplace in Kennesaw. Following the closures, MOD's remaining locations in Georgia are Decatur, Dawsonville, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Cumming, and Augusta.
MOD and Pasadena, California-based Blaze are the two largest players in the "create your own" quick-serve pizza industry, each with multiple locations in Georgia. For its part, Blaze has four locations in metro Atlanta plus additional units in Valdosta and Brunswick. The chain has not closed any locations in Georgia, but the metro Atlanta units were sold last year by original franchisee Carl Hoover to another group.
Collectively, MOD and Blaze have seen far more success than smaller players in the same pizza space. Atlanta-based Uncle Maddio's Pizza, as well as national chains Pieology, Pie Five, and 1000 Degrees Pizza have each closed most or all of their local units. Your Pie, another Atlanta-based franchise, has had mixed success with several locations still open, but failed locations in Dunwoody, Buckhead and Tucker, among others.
Are you surprised to hear of MOD Pizza's closure in Buford and East Cobb? What is your favorite quick-serve pizza eatery? What would you like to see open in place of MOD Pizza in Buford or East Cobb?
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