Pie Five Pizza closes all but one suburban Chicago location
Pie Five Pizza Co., the Texas-based fast casual pizza chain entangled in a breach of contract lawsuit, has shuttered all but one of its suburban Chicago locations, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Pie Five closed its corporate-owned stores this week in Palatine, Glenview, Skokie, Algonquin, Naperville and Oak Lawn, coming off the closure of a franchised Rolling Meadows store at the end of last year.
Only the franchised Schaumburg location at 1428 N. Meacham Road remains open, while another franchisee plans to open next month at 537 Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, officials said.
"We made the very difficult but operationally necessary decision to focus development on our growing markets," Jami Zimmerman, a Pie Five spokeswoman, said in a statement. "It was truly in the best interest of the brand, our franchisees, shareholders and other team members."
Restaurants have closed recently in Minnesota, Colorado and Arizona, Zimmerman confirmed.
However, she said there are plans to open about 40 locations nationwide this year. A check of the company's website shows 87 restaurants operating across the country.
The fast food chain, which started in 2011, entered the Chicago market in early 2015 with the opening of the Naperville restaurant at 2555 W. 75th St. The restaurant's concept allows consumers to customize personal pizzas and receive them out of the oven in five minutes.
The Daily Herald reported March 16 on franchisee Carl Dissette's federal lawsuit against the company for breach of contract and fraud.
Dissette alleges in the suit that Pie Five and its parent company RAVE overstated financial figures to make the restaurants appear more attractive, while, in reality, the company is losing money and its stock price continues to dip.
In the suit, Dissette is seeking to have Pie Five to take over possession and operation of the Schaumburg location. He's also demanding return of payments and reimbursement of losses.
The company has declined to comment on the suit.