Imo's Pizza facts for kids
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A pizza from Imo's
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| Industry | Restaurants |
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| Founded | St. Louis, Missouri, 1964 |
| Founders | Ed and Margie Imo |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri |
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Number of locations
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99 |
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Area served
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Midwest |
| Products | St. Louis-style pizza, salads, appetizers, desserts |
Imo's Pizza is a well-known American chain of pizza restaurants. Its main office is in St. Louis, Missouri. As of 2020, the company had more than 100 restaurants. You can find these stores in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas.
Imo's Pizza is famous for its special St. Louis-style pizza. This pizza is very popular in the St. Louis area. It uses a unique kind of cheese called provel cheese. Provel cheese is a mix of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone cheeses. It melts easily and has a gooey texture. Besides pizza, Imo's also sells salads, submarine sandwiches, and desserts. Some desserts can even be baked right in their pizza ovens!
Contents
How Imo's Pizza Started
The Idea for Delivery
Ed and Margie Imo lived in St. Louis and loved pizza. They often ordered meat pizzas late on Friday nights. But there was a problem: no one delivered pizza back then! They always had to go pick up their pizzas themselves. Ed and Margie saw this as a great chance to start something new. They decided to open a pizza place that would deliver food right to people's homes. They looked for a good spot in The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis.
Opening the First Store
The very first Imo's Pizza opened in 1964. It was located at Thurman Avenue and Shaw Boulevard. This was one of the first pizza places west of the Mississippi River to offer both carryout and delivery. Ed and Margie started with very little money. They bought a used oven, two refrigerators, and a stove for only $75.
Ed Imo worked as a tile setter during the day. In the evenings, he would prepare the pizzas. He was the one who started cutting the pizzas into square slices. Margie Imo took care of the customers and helped prepare the food. She even used a fishing tackle box as their cash register!
The Special Cheese
The Imos hired a local chef. This chef decided to use Provel cheese instead of the usual mozzarella. People loved the new taste! As more and more people wanted their pizza, Ed Imo needed a steady supply of Provel cheese. He ended up buying Costa Grocery, which was the company that distributed Provel cheese in St. Louis. This helped Imo's get all the cheese they needed.
Growing the Business
Within just eight months of opening, Ed and Margie started to open more Imo's Pizza locations. In 1979, they began to let other people open Imo's restaurants as franchises. This means people could pay to open their own Imo's store using the company's name and recipes. By 1985, there were 30 Imo's Pizza places around the St. Louis area. Over the years, the menu grew to include pasta, appetizers, sandwiches, and desserts.
In 2016, Imo's Pizza moved its main offices and distribution center. They moved to a new, larger building in downtown St. Louis. This new place has a big warehouse and office space.
More to Explore
- List of pizza chains of the United States
- Cuisine of St. Louis
