Regency Centers is ecstatic that MOD Pizza will be joining Gateway Shopping Center with one of their first Philadelphia locations. We see the concept as a best-in-class operator and fantastic merchandising upgrade that will increase traffic for the shopping center. They will complement other very successful tenants including Trader Joe’s, TJ Maxx, Starbucks and Panera Bread. MOD Pizza comes with a very experienced management team and currently has two locations within the Regency Centers portfolio and working on several others. - David Sherin, Senior Leasing Agent
A Bellevue, Wash.-based pizza chain has added the Philadelphia region to the list of markets it will target during its aggressive expansion plan.
MOD Pizza has signed new leases to open six locations in the Philadelphia region this year. Each location will be between 2,500-3,000 square feet, employ up to 30 employees and seat up to 70 guests.
Here are the current leases signed:
- The Willow Grove Pointe Shopping Center in Willow Grove, Pa.
- The Gateway Shopping Center in Wayne, Pa.
- 522 W. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne, Pa.
- The Marlton Square Shopping Center in Marlton, N.J.
- The Brandywine Mills Shopping Center in Glen Mills, Pa.
- Airport Pointe in Allentown, Pa.
The 10-year leases were brokered by Michael Gorman and Dan Brickner of Metro Commercial Real Estate.
All of the locations will be in the suburban areas during this year's expansion, including its first East Coast location in the Willow Grove Point Shopping Center, slated to open on March 12.
"We found that with our existing 30 locations, the suburbs is where we're doing really well. I wouldn't discount the idea of eventually going into the city because we don't have any data that suggests that we wouldn't do well," said Brian Leardon, MOD's director of real estate for the East Coast. "We want to be where mom is going after school or where the soccer team is meeting after practice. That's the vibe you get at a MOD. ... [We're] near the rooftops."
The expansion called for "daily needs" areas — common places people frequent on a daily basis, Gorman said.
MOD Pizza has been slowly growing since its first location in downtown Seattle in 2008. And, over the course of those seven years, it's only opened about 30 locations. That changed last year after a round of shareholder investments geared toward funding the expansion. Other markets announced include Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Calif. and Charlotte, N.C.
As for the Philadelphia region, Leardon said he envisions opening up to seven locations per year in the next five years or so.
So what's a MOD Pizza like? Think of a Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) but for pizza, Leardon said, where each pizza is ordered and made "exactly the way you want it."
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