🠈  Cicis  🠊

Cicis

Formerly called "CiCi's Pizza," Cicis is a chain of buffets offering Italian food and pizza. The company has its headquarters in Irving, Tx. They nearly franchises when I visited the site in 2022.

Corporate History

• 1985: Joe Croce and Mike Cole founded the restaurant in Plano, Tx.
• 2001: Cici's was the fastest growing chain with 363 restaurants. It expanded to over 500 in the next four years.
• 2003: Joe Croce left the firm.
• 2003: Levine Leichtman Capital, with financing from Frost Bank and GE Capital, acquired Cicis in a $90m deal.
• 2007: Onex Capital Group acquired Cicis.
• 2010: Cici's had over 650 restaurants.
• 2015: Cici's Pizza dropped the apostrophe and shortened its name to Cicis.
• 2016: Arlon Group acquired Cicis
• 2021: Citing the pandemic, Cicis declared bankruptcy. They had 318 locations in 26 states.
• 2021: Cicis emerged from bankruptcy with D&G Investor cited as primary investors.³

This video by CompanyMan discusses the rise and decline of Cici's. Essentially they expanded too quickly and had poor quality control during the expansion.

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References:

1. Levine Partners Invest in CiCi's (Drawn 9/13/2018)
2. cici's acquired by arlon group (Drawn 9/13/2018)
3. Restaurant Business Online - Cicis emerges from brankruptcy (Drawn 12/28/2022)

Directory Listings:

• Denver Color - Pizza: Cicis
• Internet Rivers - Pizza Chains: Cicis

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