MOD Pizza (Alpine) Closes Suddenly

Is it part of something bigger?

WZZM-13 is reporting that MOD Pizza’s Alpine location has closed unexpectedly. They say the storefront sign is down, and has been replaced with a sign that says “This location is permanently closed. Thank you for your loyalty. MOD.” (You can see a picture of the sign in their article.)

Is this a one-off thing, or are we going to have to live without MOD Pizza from now on? Since I have an hour on my hands, let’s see what we can sleuth out on the internet.

(alt text: house cat looking at pizza on plate)

Above: That is not MOD Pizza. But it is my cat. She is a real Garfield.

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Now back to sleuthing out what happened to the pizza shop.

MOD Pizza - A Fast Start

MOD Pizza is based in Seattle. It started in 2008. In the late 2010s, they had an aggressive expansion plan, hoping for more than 1,000 locations nationwide. However, they peaked with 500s of stores, and closed 44 locations in 2019.

They say they own and operate most of their own stores, but they have some franchise partners. Grand Rapids Magazine reported Livonia-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants as behind the Alpine location, and as of this writing, it’s listed as a location on their website.

In mid-2024, there was bankruptcy talk for MOD Pizza, but it never happened. Instead, Elite Restaurant Group acquired 100% equity in MOD Pizza.

Restaurant Business Online says that Elite Restaurant Group specializes in “collecting struggling restaurant chains.” An interesting club to be a member of.

Still, it’s only the Alpine Avenue store that has the sign on the door today, that I know of, anyways.

This is the MOD Pizza website location finder, as of 2/18/25 at 6:15 p.m. EST, listing the Alpine location as open until 10:00 tonight.

Whatever happened, it happened suddenly enough that internet presence wasn’t updated simultaneously.

There used to be a location on 28th Street, but that looks closed, too. It opened in 2019, and it’s not clear when it closed. There is a location in Kalamazoo, referenced in this article, that appears to be open, according to the MOD Pizza location finder.

The Facebook for the now-defunct Alpine location has the 28th street location listed:

The address listed as the 28th Street location is now an Olga’s Kitchen affiliated with (according to Facebook) TEAM Schostak. So will the MOD Pizza Alpine location reincarnate as an Olga’s Kitchen? Something else?

There were also MOD Pizza closings in the Philadelphia area in early December.

I feel like “Closed Suddenly” might become a recurring theme in 2025.

It is just pizza, but the chain is admirably committed to social goals, including jobs for the recently incarcerated, internships and opportunities for people with barriers to employment.

If you have the deep dish, and you know what happened, or what is going to happen to that space on Alpine, please let us know in the comments.

Working in Food Service on Alpine Avenue

MOD Pizza on Alpine isn’t far from the WZZM-13 studios. I used to work at that Burger King on Alpine in high school (in my best Conan voice: In the year 2000), and the personalities would come through my drive through window regularly. The ones who didn’t know me personally I would “recognize” them, act surprised and tell them I was a huge fan, without telling them I was the 3rd daughter of local television mustache royalty. They always seemed happy to get recognized.

I like writing for an indie blog because I can write in first person and go off on tangents about my fast food jobs from 25-years ago.

Will you miss MOD Pizza of Alpine? Now I want pizza for dinner.