[EXCLUSIVE] Another Atlanta Area MOD Pizza "Folds"

Struggling build-your-own pizza chain MOD Pizza has closed at least one more location in metro Atlanta.  The Sandy Springs restaurant, located in The Plaza at City Springs (5840 Roswell Road) opened in January 2018 and closed in recent days, according to a source close to the project.

The Bellevue, Washington-based chain closed 26 locations in the first quarter of 2024, according to Restaurant Business Magazine.  News spread in early July that the company, which had by the end of 2023 swelled to more than 550 locations, was in financial straits and was considering a bankruptcy filing.  Days later the company was acquired by Elite Restaurant Group, a Los Angeles-based multi-unit restaurant holding company that has bought or sold several struggling restaurant chains in recent years.  

Reports in July indicated that MOD Pizza had shuttered a total of 44 units, primarily company-owned, since the start of the year.  The company has this year already closed restaurants in Chamblee, East Cobb and Buford.  (A new Dave's Hot Chicken is opening in place of the former Buford location.) 

MOD, which stands for "made on demand," was founded in Seattle in 2008, and today includes 495 locations across 28 states.  The franchise had about 560 locations at the end of 2023.    

Southern Pie, LLC, a franchise group led by Robbie Hill and his daughter Kimberly Hill Hayden, owns MOD stores in Georgia and Alabama.    Southern Pie's first MOD opened in 2017 in Kennesaw Marketplace in Kennesaw.  

Following the closures, MOD's remaining locations in Georgia are Decatur, Dawsonville, Kennesaw, Cumming, and Augusta.  

MOD's former 2,800 square foot endcap space in Sandy Springs is actively being marketed for lease.  Its would-be replacement would join existing tenants in the center, including Buffalo Wild Wings GO, Tin Drum Asian Kitchen, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Starbucks, and a CAVA Digitial Kitchen.  

Are you surprised to hear of MOD Pizza's closure in Sandy Springs? What is your favorite quick-serve pizza eatery?  What would you like to see open in place of MOD Pizza in Sandy Springs?   

Please share your thoughts below.