Cicis is credited with being the company that invented the unlimited pizza buffet. At its peak, it had over 650 locations in the U.S, with steady growth despite recent financial turmoil. The company was founded in 1985 as a single restaurant in Plano, Texas. Today, it has almost 300 locations that are spread across 32 states.

Guests in Cicis are encouraged to try out the different pizza flavors in the buffet. The restaurant pledges to say “yes” to every individualized taste by offering the flavor in its buffet. Cicis Pizza also offers traditional crust pizza, flatbreads, salads, pasta, and desserts for to-go, dine-in, and catering while guests enjoy authentic Italian cuisines.

Let’s look at the company’s history, recent sale, bankruptcy, and trademarks.

Cicis Company History

Joe Croce and Mike Cole founded Cicis in 1985 and the first location was in Plano, Texas. By 2001, the company had 363 restaurants, and it began to expand its buffet offerings and remodel the restaurants. Four years later, in 2005, Cicis had grown to over 500 locations. It was also crowned the fastest-growing pizza chain in the United States.

Croce retired from the business in 2003, passing the company’s ownership to the executives of the company. Craig Moore, who had first served as the Dallas general manager and then vice president of the company, became the company’s president after it was Croce sold it to the company’s executive team.

As the company’s President, Craig Moore oversaw the business’ franchise growth and operations. After 17 years with the company, Moore announced his retirement in 2009.

After Moore’s retirement, Michael Shumsky took over as the company’s president. Previously, he served as the CEO of La Madeleine Restaurant Inc. Shumsky served as president until August 2013, when he also decided to retire. At that time, Darin Harris took over as Cicis’ new CEO.

In January 2018, Harris left the company and Bill Mitchell replaced him as interim CEO. In March of 2018, Mitchell was permanently appointed to the position.

Cicis began to enact an aggressive 10-year expansion plan starting in 2010. It announced plans to add 500 new restaurants by 2020 and also outlined plans to expand internationally. Canada and Mexico were slated as potentially being the first international locations.

Cicis has been performing well, earning itself several accolades over the years. The Wall Street Journal named it one of the top 25 performing brands. Franchise Today ranked it among the top 200 franchise concepts.

Cicis has also received some bad media over the years. In one instance, it was awarded the worst restaurant idea.

Still, the excellent media coverage is overwhelming. Men’s Health awarded Cicis Pizza “top marks” for providing healthy food choices from a list of 66 major chain restaurants.

The company began a new marketing campaign in November 2015, featuring a renaming of the business to the more simple name of Cicis. At this time, it also introduced the new slogan “Beyond Pizza” as well as a redesigned website and a new logo. This new marketing campaign aimed to show the masses and its clientele that Cicis offered more than just pizza.

Cicis’ Emergence from Bankruptcy and Sale

On January 25, 2021, after the COVID-19 pandemic struck most businesses hard, Cicis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It owed between $50 million to $100 million in liabilities. Despite its attempts to make money through delivery over the course of the pandemic, Cicis, in its filing, mentioned that it couldn’t benefit from the initiative because of its buffet model.

In the month prior to its bankruptcy filing, Cicis had reached an acquisition agreement with its primary lender, D&G Investors. This agreement was for Cicis to sell itself and its $82 million in liabilities to D&G.

According to the filed records, Cicis noted that 85% of its sales come from in-store dining, which was impossible to make up during the pandemic. Moreover, COVID-19 notwithstanding, the in-store sales had been in a steady decline as the company struggled to keep up with the new service delivery systems the competition offered that an all-you-can-eat model cannot sustain.

Cicis’ records also show a steady decline over 12 years before the pandemic. At its peak in 2009, Cicis boasted 650 restaurants in 33 states, while at the beginning of 2020 it only had 395 locations spread across 25 states. Of these locations, 96% were franchises.

Cicis Trademarks

Cicis has obtained or sought a federal registration for about 15 trademarks. These include “CICI’S BUFFET ON THE GO,” “CICI’S PIZZA TO GO,” and “CICIS BEYOND PIZZA.”

Cicis obtained a federal trademark registration for “CICI’S BUFFET ON THE GO” on December 22, 2009, and uses the trademark for its take-out restaurant services.

The company also received a registration for “CICI’S PIZZA TO GO” as a federal trademark on May 28, 2013. The company uses the trademark for its restaurant services.