Pietro's Pizza facts for kids
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| Industry | Fast food restaurants |
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| Founded | 1957 |
| Headquarters | Milwaukie, Oregon |
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Number of locations
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3 restaurants |
| Products | Pizza |
Pietro's Pizza is a well-known pizza place in Oregon, USA. It started way back in 1957. Over the years, it grew very big, with many restaurants, but then it became smaller. Today, it has a few locations, and its main office is in Milwaukie, Oregon.
Contents
The Story of Pietro's Pizza
How Pietro's Pizza Started
Pietro's Pizza began in 1957. A person named Norm Kolln started the first restaurant. It was located in Longview, Washington. Norm Kolln helped the pizza chain grow.
Growing and Changing Owners
In the early 1970s, Norm Kolln sold Pietro's Pizza. The Campbell Soup Company bought the chain. They helped Pietro's grow even more. The company had about 60 locations. These were in Oregon and Washington.
Later, in the late 1980s, Campbell Soup Company sold Pietro's. New investors from California took over in 1988. They helped the chain expand to almost 80 restaurants. This happened by the early 1990s.
Challenges and New Beginnings
After reaching its biggest size, Pietro's Pizza faced some challenges. The number of restaurants started to go down. By 1995, the company had 45 locations. Its main office moved to Bothell, Washington.
In 1996, another company bought many of the remaining Pietro's restaurants. This company was called Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc. They planned to change some Pietro's locations. These would become their own restaurants, called BJ's Pizza.
The changes started in 1997. The restaurant in Eugene, Oregon, was one of the first to become a BJ's. By 1999, most Pietro's locations had changed. The chain became much smaller. By 2004, only three Pietro's Pizza restaurants remained.
Pietro's Today
In February 2004, two employees bought the last three stores. Their names were Ken Bay and Ray David. They wanted to keep the Pietro's Pizza tradition alive.
A new Pietro's location opened in Beaverton, Oregon, in March 2014. However, this location closed in December 2023.
Where You Can Find Pietro's Pizza Now
Today, all the remaining Pietro's Pizza restaurants are in Oregon. You can find them in these cities:
Family Connections to Pizza
Norm Kolln's son, Michael, reopened the original Longview location. He used the same recipes. This new restaurant opened in late 2008. It is called "The Original Pie@trio’s Pizzeria."
Norm Kolln's two grandsons also opened a pizza place. They remodeled a former Pietro's in Eugene/Glenwood. Their restaurant, Roaring Rapids Pizza Co., opened in 2000.
