By Rick Hynum
An Aurelio’s Pizza franchisee has closed the brand’s only two shops in Florida, less than two years after opening them.
Both locations closed abruptly on August 10, and franchise owner Mark Lichtman told the News-Press that the stores won’t reopen.
Lichtman had previously served as the general manager at an Aurelio’s store that shuttered after its lease wasn’t renewed. He opened his own Aurelio’s shop in North Naples in December 2024, then followed up with a second store in Estero last year.
Apparently, he had one good year of business—“everything was wonderful and profitable,” Lichtman said in the News-Press interview—and then things went sideways.
“The first year we opened, everyone who ever knew about Aurelio’s came. Then it changed. Even our most loyal guests started cutting back. We did summer numbers last season.”
By “season,” Lichtman is likely referring to winter and spring, particularly January through March when “snowbirds” and winter vacationers arrive in hordes to Southwest Florida. In that region, “summer numbers” for restaurants aren’t usually good numbers compared to winter, although the seasonal divide has reportedly been fading in recent years.
Lichtman’s plight may point to the pitfalls of opening a second restaurant location too quickly. Aurelio’s is a long-running and beloved Chicago pizza brand, and name recognition and the nostalgia factor likely drew transplanted retirees and snowbirds to his first store in North Naples.
But was it sustainable? Lichtman might not have waited long enough to find out—and suddenly he was saddled with rent, food and labor expenses, utilities, equipment and other fixed costs for two restaurants, all riding on a customer base that hadn’t yet proved its loyalty to the first store. Additionally, pizza shops with New York and Chicago roots have become increasingly abundant in South Florida, making competition for snowbirds and northern expatriates tougher than it used to be.
Related: Is Store No. 2 for You? A Veteran Operator Explains Why, When and How to Open Your Next Location
But for a while there, Lichtman said, “We did really well. We did a lot of great things with the community. I’m going to miss it. I’m very proud of my entire crew and what they accomplished. I’m very sad to see this go, but I’m excited for the future of Aurelio’s.”
