“We are dropping off the executed lease today,” Rapid Fired co-founder Kelly Gray told this news outlet this morning, July 15. “We expect this to be a flagship store, since it is close to our corporate office, and we plan to bring potential franchisees through the store on a regular basis.”
The new restaurant will seat about 80, will employ 20 to 30 and is projected to open in mid-November, Gray said. It has applied for a full liquor license, but Gray said plans call for serving only beer and wine, not spirits.
The Kettering-based pizza chain is expanding, well, rapidly. The first Rapid Fired Pizza opened in late 2015 in Washington Twp. east of the Dayton Mall, the second opened in February near Wright State University, the third opened in May on Ohio 201 in Huber Heights, and the fourth opened in Sugarcreek Twp. just last month. Additional locations are in various stages of development in Troy, Springfield, Lima, Englewood and Montgomery.
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Rapid Fired Pizza restaurants have a quick-service concept, utilizing a Chipotle-style serving line in which customers pick out the toppings for their 11-inch personal pizza. The pie is then cooked to order in just under three minutes in a high-temperature oven. One of the chain’s founders is Ray Wiley, who is also co-founder of Hot Head Burritos and a franchisee for a handful of Subway restaurants.
At least three other quick-serve pizza chains are in various stages of development of locations in the Dayton area. PizzaFire will open its first area location in late August on Far Hills Avenue in Kettering. MOD Pizza is coming to the Cornerstone of Centerville Development. And Blaze Pizza has opened a location in southern Warren County and is looking for Dayton-area sites, according to its southwest Ohio franchisee.
Bob Zavakos with NAI Bergman represented Krispy Kreme in the lease agreement.
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