SPRINGFIELD – Papa Murphy’s is downsizing in Springfield, reducing store operations down to only one location.
Employees at Papa Murphy’s at 2641 Chatham Road, right next to Cafe Moxo, confirmed the second Springfield Papa Murphy’s location on the north side will permanently close May 4.
Leading up to the May closure, several employees from the 1712 E. Sangamon Ave. location will be rehired at the Chatham Road location in a consolidation effort by the franchise.
In the meantime, gift cards will still be available for use at the location at the Sangamon Avenue address until closure.
Papa Murphy’s bake at home approach
The idea of ordering out usually means food being ready to eat once you pick it up from the counter – but Papa Murphys, a brand franchising since 1982 takes the notion of take-and-bake and flips it on its head.
The unique approach to selling cold premade pizzas is nothing new at grocery stores, but as a standalone business has managed to make it into the 2020s scraping by. In early 2023, MTY Food Group, the parent company, closed roughly 120 stores which were marked as underperforming franchises to strengthen the brand.
The brand has expanded to over 1,107 stores nationwide. Out of those stores, FindFranchise.com lists 1,001 of these locations as franchises, which keep the business model alive.
After the closure of the Sangamon Avenue location, there will be 12 Papa Murphy’s locations in Illinois.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Popular takeout pizza restaurant closing one of its Springfield spots
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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