In 2018, Buddy's Pizza was purchased by CapitalSpring, a private equity firm. One of its goals was to expand the brand's footprint beyond Southeast Michigan.
In 2020, Buddy's opened a restaurant in Portage, a suburb of Kalamazoo. It was one of three locations outside Southeast Michigan. The other two, are in Grand Rapids, which opened in 2019, and Okemos, near East Lansing, which opened in 2022.
Now comes news that the Portage location closed on Tuesday.
MLive reports:
“Following a grand opening in the middle of a pandemic, the (Portage) location continued to suffer the difficulties of navigating COVID protocols, supply-chain disruptions, staffing shortages, inflationary impacts to include lease terms, and more,” an official company statement reads.
Each of those factors “prevented the Buddy’s team from ever being able to operate the Portage location at its fullest potential,” the statement said.
CapitalSpring's website describes the equity firm this way:
CapitalSpring was founded in 2005 as a source of structured financing for the franchise industry. Ever since, we have been scaling our asset base and thoughtfully broadening our strategy, expertise, and network of relationships. Our comprehensive portfolio resources and specialized experience have made us a preferred, value-added partner in all types of investment scenarios.
