Pizza Inn is a Dallas-based

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

and international food

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

, specializing in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-style

pan pizza Pan pizza is a pizza baked in a deep dish pan or sheet pan. Italian tomato pie, Sicilian pizza, Chicago-style pizza and Detroit-style pizza may be considered forms of pan pizza. Pan pizza also refers to the thick style popularized by Pizza H ...

, pasta, and side dishes. The company is based in the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

suburb of

The Colony, Texas The Colony is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. The population was 44,534 at the 2020 census. History The Colony derives its name from the original Peters Colony. The Peters Colony headquarters was located ...

. At its peak, Pizza Inn had over 500 locations in 20 states. As of June 28, 2020, Pizza Inn had 252 stores within the United States, located primarily in towns within the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, and 38 stores internationally.

History

In 1958, two Texas brothers, F.J. (Joe) and R. L. Spillman, opened the first Pizza Inn in Dallas. In the mid-1980s, the restaurant chain had a commercial deal with the

Von Erich family The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member who has been in the wrestling business has used the ring name "Von Erich," after the family patriarch, Fri ...

, with Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich, and Mike Von Erich appearing in a series of televised commercials

In June 2011, Pizza Inn launched the

fast casual restaurant A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conce ...

Pie Five Pizza, which specializes in customizable pizzas that are made within five minutes, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. They had five locations within the Fort Worth area by the end of the year. As of January 2015, they had 31 locations. In October 2011, Pizza Inn opened their first of five planned Chinese locations in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, China. Former

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

and

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (or Yum!), formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American fast food corporation listed on the Fortune 1000. Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the br ...

executive Randy Gier joined the company in 2012. He served as CEO until 2016. On January 9, 2015, the parent company Pizza Inn Holdings (ticker symbol: "PZZI") was rebranded as a

portfolio company A portfolio company is a company or entity in which a venture capital firm, a startup studio, or a holding company invests. All companies currently backed by a private equity firm can be spoken of as the firm's portfolio Portfolio may refer to: ...

named Rave Restaurant Group (ticker symbol: "RAVE") as Pie Five Pizza locations began to increase. In May 2018, Rave Restaurant Group opened its first PIE by Pizza Inn Express pizza kiosks with

Delaware North Delaware North is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gambling, and entertainment industries. The company employs over 55,000 people worl ...

at the

Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport is a major public airport in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is one of three airports serving the Miami metropolitan area. The airport is off Interstate 595 in Florida, Interstate 5 ...

. On February 5, 2021, Pizza Inn reported improving sales amid hectic environment during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the period ending December 27, domestic same-store sales decreased from $18.95 million to $15.46 million, or 18.4 percent for the company, which is the chain's best performing quarter since the pandemic began. Pizza Inn also saw comparative sales drop 39 percent in the quarter ending June 28 and 22 percent in the quarter ending September 27.

References

External links

RAVE Restaurant Group

Pizza Inn, USA

Pizza Inn, Kuwait

Pizza Inn, Saudi Arabia
*
Pizza Inn, Australia
{{Pizza chains Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989 Pizza chains of the United States Restaurant chains in the United States Companies based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Denton County, Texas Restaurants established in 1958 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Pizza franchises 1958 establishments in Texas

History

See also

References

External links