The company sells pizzas that are made to order but that the customer cooks at home, McGuire says. "It is a unique concept," he says. Salads and cookies are also for sale at the locations but there are no ovens in its locations or tables, he says.
HomeMade Pizza was founded by Chicago entrepreneurs Eric and Audrey Fosse and opened its first location in the Lake View community of Chicago in 1997. "They got an infusion of some private venture capital money and they want to grow the concept," McGuire says. There will not be any major changes to the way the company operates the locations. "It is still going to work the same way. It is still going to be a carry-out concept," he says.
HomeMade Pizza already had three units in Chicago and locations in Evanston, IL, Winnetka, IL, Glencoe, IL and Highland Park, IL. Northern Realty found three additional locations in Chicago at 5301 N. Clark St. in the Andersonville neighborhood, 3314 N. Broadway in the Lakeview neighborhood and 1546 E. 55th St. in the Hyde Park neighborhood. "They have got a track record in Chicago neighborhoods and they are great neighborhoods for the concept," he says. "They have been looking in these areas for awhile."
Seven of the new locations are in the Chicago suburbs. "They have a track record of succeeding in suburban downtowns," McGuire says. New locations for the pizza chain will also be at 1301 Chicago Ave. in Evanston, IL; 9 W. 1st St. in Hinsdale, IL; 268 E. Deerpath Rd. in Lake Forest, IL; 17 S. Dunton Ave. in Arlington Heights; 18324 S. Governors Hwy. in Homewood, IL and two locations in Naperville, IL at 111 E. Ogden Ave. and the intersection of Illinois Route 59 and 95th St.
Northern Realty helped the company with all of the locations except for Arlington Heights and Homewood, McGuire says. All of the leases negotiated by Northern Realty are for the same term but McGuire would not disclose details for the leases. The two locations in Naperville are located in retail centers. "They are well situated. So, it is going a little bit against the model, but they need to test strip centers," McGuire says.
The majority of the new locations are open. The locations in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood and at the intersection of Illinois Route 59 and 95th St. in Naperville are supposed to open this summer. The locations in Homewood and Arlington Heights are also still under construction.
Additionally, HomeMade Pizza Co. is expanding outside of the Chicagoland area to two locations in Minnesota. Locations are under construction at 11313 Highway 7 in Minnetonka, MN and 812 E. Lake St. in Wayzata, MN. An opening date for the Minnesota locations was not available.
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