Pietro's Pizza is a small pizza chain in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1957, the chain grew to about 80 restaurants and changed owners several times before shrinking to only four restaurants. The company is based in Milwaukie, Oregon.

History

Norm Kolln started the company in Longview, Washington, in 1957. Kolln grew the chain and in the early 1970s sold out to the

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

who grew Pietro's to about 60 locations in Oregon and Washington before selling it in the late 1980s. Investors from California led by Bob Adamowski bought the chain from Campbell's in 1988 and continued expansion to close to 80 outlets by the early 1990s before a steep decline. The headquarters were moved to

Bothell, Washington Bothell () is a city in King and Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, situated near the northeast end of Lake Washington. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 48,161 resident ...

, where Pietro's Corp. filed a

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

in 1995 when the number of locations had dropped to 45. Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc. then bought 26 of the remaining restaurants in March 1996 in a $2.8 million deal in cash and assumed debt, but then sold off seven of the locations with plans to convert the remaining Pietro's to what was then BJ's Pizza. Conversions began on some stores in 1997, with the

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, restaurant being the first location converted to BJ's. By March 1999 BJ's had converted all but 10 Pietro's, with the chain shrinking to three locations by 2004. In February 2004, employees Ken Bay and Ray David bought the remaining three stores for $2.2 million. A Beaverton location opened in March 2014.

Current locations

The remaining locations are in Hood River,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

Milwaukie Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city ...

, and Beaverton. Norm Kolln's three sons and grandsons re-opened the original Longview location with the same recipes in late 2008 as "The Original Pie@trio’s Pizzeria".

References

{{pizza chains Companies based in Milwaukie, Oregon Pizza chains of the United States Privately held companies based in Oregon Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1957 Restaurants in Oregon Food and drink companies based in Oregon 1957 establishments in Oregon