Pizza Chain Looking to Locate in Area

By: Tom Murphy, Business Editor

Americans eat 350 slices of pizza every second or 100 acres of pizza each day, according to Smithsonian magazine.

This is great news for Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, the 10-year-old Charlotte-based company recognized for serving handcrafted pizza from a wood-burning oven, said Samantha Bryant, a company spokeswoman.

“Although an agreement has not been signed, the chain is looking for a site in Rocky Mount,” Bryant said. “Brixx Wood is now seeking to heat up the nation and one of its next stops is Rocky Mount.”

Neil Newcomb, president of franchising systems for Brixx, said the chain has identified a market in North Carolina where it thinks Brixx would be successful.

“We really want a franchise in those markets,” Newcomb said. “We prefer a franchisee who lives in Rocky Mount and are in the process of talking with people now.”

Ten years and 10 company-owned restaurants later, Brixx is adding qualified owner-operators to its family after launching a franchising program in early 2007.

Brixx is developing restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham area and wants to add restaurants in Eastern North Carolina.

“We just think Greenville and Rocky Mount are great towns,” Newcomb said. “We have a franchise restaurant currently under construction in Wilson. We would really like to be there in some of those smaller markets.”

Newcomb said Brixx operates five restaurants in Charlotte and restaurants in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Greensboro, as well as two restaurants in South Carolina.

Newcomb said the mall area in Rocky Mount attracted Brixx. “There is a lot of new development going on in Rocky Mount, and the hospital there is generating a lot of excitement,” he said. “We think it would be a good market because Rocky Mount is a draw area for the surrounding counties.”

A time frame to bring the restaurant to Rocky Mount has not been established. “We are not going to put a false time frame on ourselves,” Newcomb said. “The two important things are to have the best real estate and the best franchise.”