THE PIZZA CATEGORY’S SALES SLID -0.3% IN 2025 PHOTO COURTESY OF PAPA JOHNS
sales by 11.5% to end with $613.4 million and 474 locations (a 5.8% increase) Out of the 35 limited-service pizza chains in the Top 500, 16 gained sales in 2025 versus 19 that registered declines. The three chains that generated the steepest drops were all fast casual pizza chains, including Blaze Pizza (-9.6%), MOD Pizza (-10.6%) and Pieology Pizza, which fell by a whopping 26.5%. Blaze named John Owen as its new CEO earlier this year and his comeback plan includes balancing hospitality with speed, while also improving brand awareness both inside and outside of its core markets. Notably, Blaze closed 43 locations in 2024 and is nearly 60 units smaller than it was at the end of 2020. MOD was sold to Elite Restaurant Group after closing a significant number of locations in 2024. Like Blaze, its system has significantly retrenched, ending 2025 with 447 locations compared to 485 at the end of 2024 and 489 at the end of 2020. As for Pieology, its challenges accelerated in 2025. In 2024, the California-based chain lost more than 10% of its sales while its system was whittled down to 45 units last year after finishing 2024 with 103 locations. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. The company grew to about 150 locations by 2017, including about a dozen international locations, after receiving investments from Panda Express founders Andrew and Peggy
Cherng, as well as NBA player Kevin Durant. Pieology was founded in 2011 and is widely considered to be a pioneer of the fast-casual, build-your-own pizza category, alongside Blaze and MOD, as well as Your Pie, PizzaRev, Uncle Maddio’s, Fired Pie, and others. Of note, the entire category has been struggling for years, with challenges exacerbated by the pandemic and changing consumer habits. Your Pie’s sales fell 3.2% in 2025, while its unit count was down 1.6%. Since 2020, more than 16% of the system has closed. PizzaRev received an investment from Buffalo Wild Wings in 2014 when it had just three locations and had 200 more under development. It grew to over 40 locations but is now down to just four. Meanwhile, Uncle Maddio’s once surpassed 40 locations and is now down to 11, and Fired Pie filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and is now down to eight locations.
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2026
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