Dewey's Pizza signs on for sixth St. Louis location

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2014/07/dewey-s-pizza-signs-on-for-sixth-st-louis-area.html

Dewey’s Pizza signs on for sixth St. Louis area store
Jul 10, 2014, 10:59am CDT Updated: Jul 10, 2014, 1:34pm CDT

Dewey’s Pizza is breaking the mold with its sixth area store by expanding into Cullinan Properties’ Streets of St. Charles.

The development is located at 1520 S. Fifth St., just over the Blanchette Bridge.

“We’d been looking at Old Town St. Charles for years, but we just didn’t have luck finding a big enough space,” David Justice, Dewey’s Pizza operating partner for the St. Louis market, said. “We found this and like the dynamic street feel even though it is in a different, more suburban area for us.”

Justice said the pizza parlor has been looking at the space for more than a year, and just signed a lease last week for a 3,800-square-foot space that will eventually have seats for 90 to 95 customers.

Justice is looking to open up shop in November, with construction starting some time in late August or early September.

Build-outs for Dewey’s Pizza typically run around $1 million, Justice said.

Dewey’s previously has moved into one other suburban setting in the metro area, in Ellisville.

The design will be done by James Frederick, of Cincinnati, who’s done many projects for the company.

Justice couldn’t provide the exact terms of the lease, but said Dewey’s typically signs on for a five-year term with a five-year option at its locations.

“From day one, nine years ago, people were coming from all the way from St. Charles to the Kirkwood location,” Justice said. “We’re excited to be able to serve the northwest side of the city and bring Dewey’s Pizza closer than a 20-mile drive.”

Dewey’s Pizza is looking to add two or three additional locations in the St. Louis area over the coming years, Justice said. He’s floated options all over, from the Central West End, south city, downtown, Creve Coeur and even in O’Fallon, Illinois. No firm plans have been made yet.

Andrew DeWitt, son of Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt, brought the Dewey’s Pizza concept to St. Louis in 2004 from Cincinnati, where the pizza chain is headquartered, and has since expanded to five — soon to be six — stores in the area(University City, Edwardsville, Illinois, Kirkwood, Webster, and now St. Charles). In total, the pizza chain operates 18 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. Dewey’s is a $30 million business.