After permanently closing eight Los Angeles County locations, PizzaRev is down to just 13 total domestic units, according to its website. There are four in Mexico as well.
From 2018 to 2019, the fast casual dropped from 37 to 30 restaurants and saw its total sales decline 15.6 percent to $38 million, per FoodserviceResults.
In 2017, PizzaRev had 45 corporate and franchise stores and touted more than 200 locations under development across 14 states.
And like other fast casual pizza chains during the time, it attracted investor interest from high-profile companies. Buffalo Wild Wings became a minority investor in 2014—two years after it was founded—when there were just three locations. As part of the deal, the chain got the franchise license to expand PizzaRev in Minnesota. It opened two that year, in Hopkins and Edina. By 2016, however, despite once planning for 25, the chain halted development.
In 2017, the now-Inspire Brands run wing chain sold its position. Cleveland Avenue LLC, a Chicago-based accelerator founded by Don Thompson, the former CEO of McDonald’s, purchased a majority stake in PizzaRev for an undisclosed amount. Thompson said at the time they were “attracted to PizzaRev because of its potential for scale and growth.”
PizzRev was founded by music industry vets Irv Zuckerman and Rodney Eckerman, the previous co-CEOs of Clear Channel Music, a company later acquired that became a part of Live Nation. At the time, Clear Channel Music reported gross revenues of more than $1.4 billion, including more than $100 million from food and beverage sales.
PizzaRev debuted in Northridge, California, as an incubator test kitchen for the brand.
The concept started as a value-oriented, “Chipotle-style” setup with a focus on customization, with pizza cooked in a 900-degree, stone-bed oven that produces Roman-style pizza in three minutes.
The recent LA County closure news, reported by the Los Angeles Daily News, left just two stores remaining in the area. PizzaRev’s social accounts confirmed the news, saying, “We are bummed about it as well. Definitely a hard decision. We appreciate the support.” It cited “the impact of COVID-19” in other posts.
There are still nine California locations, according to PizzaRev’s website. There’s one each in Louisiana, New York, South Dakota, and Virginia.
Other local reports have surfaced recently, too. The Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported a PizzaRev in Valencia, South Carolina, permanently shut down. A Round Rock, Texas, unit closed on April 5.
As much as a month ago, California closures were being reported as the company grappled with no dining-room business going on two months.
PizzaRev introduced a $33 date-night package in late March.
