Cicis Pizza facts for kids
Logo
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Trade name
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Cicis Pizza |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants Franchising |
| Genre |
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| Founded | 1985 Plano, Texas, United States |
| Founders | Joe Croce Mike Cole |
| Headquarters | Coppell, Texas |
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Number of locations
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274 (2025) |
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Key people
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Jeff Hetsel (President and Franchise Owner) |
| Products | Pizza, salad, pasta, chicken wings, desserts |
| Owner | D&G Investors |
Cicis Pizza, also known as Cicis, is a popular American restaurant chain. It's famous for its pizza buffet! Cicis started in 1985 and is based in Coppell, Texas. By 1987, other people could open their own Cicis restaurants as franchises. In November 2015, the company changed its name to just Cicis. They also updated their logo and website.
Contents
The Story of Cicis Pizza
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Cicis was started in 1985 by two friends, Joe Croce and Mike Cole. They opened their first restaurant in Plano, Texas. By 2001, Cicis had grown to 363 restaurants. They also started making their buffets even better.
Growing Across the Country
Just four years later, in 2005, Cicis had more than 500 locations. It became the fastest-growing pizza chain in the United States. This showed how much people loved their all-you-can-eat pizza.
In 2003, Joe Croce retired from the business. He gave ownership of the company to his executive team. Craig Moore, who was a general manager, became a vice president. He later became president of the company. Moore helped Cicis grow even more. He retired in 2009 after 17 years with the company.
Michael Shumsky took over as CEO after Moore. Then, Darin Harris became CEO in August 2013. Bill Mitchell became the CEO in March 2018.
New Plans and Fun Pizzas
In 2010, Cicis announced plans to open 500 more restaurants. They even thought about expanding into other countries like Canada and Mexico. Cicis has won many awards over the years. The Wall Street Journal named it one of the top 25 performing brands.
Cicis offers many kinds of pizza. They have classic flavors like pepperoni and supreme. But they also have unique pizzas like macaroni and cheese, barbeque pork, and Buffalo chicken. In 2022, they even offered a huge 28-inch pizza called "Piezilla"!
More Than Just Pizza
In November 2015, Cicis launched a new marketing campaign. They changed their name to simply "Cicis" and added the phrase "Beyond Pizza." This campaign showed that Cicis offers more than just pizza. You can find chicken wings, pasta, salads, soups, and many desserts. Their desserts include dessert pizzas, cinnamon buns, and fudge brownies.
In 2021, Cicis faced financial challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their buffet model made it hard to offer delivery. However, Cicis quickly recovered. They reached an agreement to sell the company to their main lender, D&G Investors. Just two months after facing these challenges, Cicis was back on track.
Awards and Recognition
Cicis Pizza has received several awards. From 2004 to 2009, it was ranked third in the pizza category. This was for the "Consumers' Choice in Chains" contest by Restaurants & Institutions. This award is based on what customers think of different restaurant chains. In March 2009, Men's Health magazine praised Cicis Pizza. They said Cicis offered good healthy food choices among many major restaurant chains.
See also
- List of buffet restaurants
