&pizza, the fast-casual pizza shop chain that opened last year in Bethesda, its first location outside of Washington, D.C., is continuing its rapid expansion.
The company announced this week it has received an additional $10 million to help fund its expansion.
The chain operates nine restaurants in the D.C. area, including locations in Germantown and Gaithersburg in addition to Bethesda. Another location is slated to open in the next month or two at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda.
&pizza is known for its conveyor pizza oven and make-your-own pie style that allows customers to choose from a variety of toppings and dough to make custom oval-shaped pizzas. The brand launched on H Street in the District in 2012 and opened its fourth location in Bethesda in June 2014.
Co-owner Steve Salis said when the Bethesda location opened that growing the business could produce negative effects, such as diluting the company’s brand. He said the company is focused on “building a definable brand in this area” and plans to maintain strict quality control measures as it expands.
The company’s expansion plans include the opening of six new locations in the first six months of 2015, according to a news release.
“We’ve built a company from the ground up that has a real purpose, and this investment will allow us to expand our mission, both deeper inside the city limits of the nation’s capital, and far beyond,” Salis said in a statement.
While &pizza was one of the first regional brands to develop the concept of the fast-casual pizza shop, bigger players have been getting involved recently. Blaze Pizza, which was developed by the founders of Wetzel Pretzels, made its entry into the local market last year with a shop at Westfield Montgomery mall.
Other competitors like Uncle Maddio’s and The Pizza Studio are cannon-balling into the national market with dozens of locations opening over the past two years. Even Chipotle—the brand that practically defined the fast-casual dining industry—is joining the competition with its Pizzeria Locale, which recently expanded out of its Colorado start-up phase to Kansas City in January.
