A pizza chain founded by the brother of tennis star Michael Chang, and once backed by NBA superstar Kevin Durant, is seeking bankruptcy protection after years of store closures.
The parent company of Pieology filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in California, stating that its debts exceed its assets by at least double. The filing lists over 200 creditors, including many landlords and vendors.
The chain, founded in 2011, built its reputation on letting customers “craft” their own pizzas, calzones, and other foods. By 2022, it was boasting 130 locations in a press release announcing Shawn Thompson, a former Tim Hortons executive, as its CEO.
Its website lists nearly 40 locations, mainly in California, but also in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Thompson, whose LinkedIn page suggests his term as CEO ended last month, didn’t return a request for comment.
Representatives for Pieology, which is expected to continue operating while the bankruptcy proceeds, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the bankruptcy filing for Pieology’s parent company, The Little Brown Box Pizza, Chang is also seeking bankruptcy protection for a company called Kustom Partner, which appears to be the administrative arm of Pieology.
The two companies filed for a form of Chapter 11 designed for small businesses that allows them to keep operating while they restructure their debts under court supervision.
Listed among Kustom Partner’s creditors were numerous tax collectors from Florida, Oregon, Utah, Hawaii, Idaho, Georgia, Arizona, and more.
In a 2017 story about Durant’s investment in Pieology, the basketball legend told ESPN that he was “impressed with the quality” of the pizza chain. Representatives for Durant didn’t return a request for comment about the status of their investment. Pieology’s bankruptcy filing said no one owns more than 10% of the company, suggesting no current institutional owners.
The Little Brown Box Pizza listed assets of between $100,000 and $500,000 compared to liabilities, or money owed, of between $1 million and $10 million.
