As America’s Incredible Pizza Company, a family-friendly pizza buffet and indoor amusement center, gears up to celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, one location will fall by the wayside.
The six-store brand will trim back to five stores when its St. Louis County location in Missouri closes on August 17. At the same time America’s Incredible Pizza Company plans to launch a system-wide rebrand by the end of 2025, with a focus on storytelling, guest connection and innovation.
The St. Louis location opened in December 2012, appealing to kids and families with arcade games, go-carts, bumper cars, Laser Tag and themed dining rooms. For many, it’s a favorite gathering place for kids’ birthday parties in the vein of Chuck E. Cheese—minus the animatronic characters.
Rick and Cheryl Barsness, who founded America’s Incredible Pizza Company, met as co-workers in Grand Forks, North Dakota. But when Rick asked Cheryl for a date, her response was curt and to the point: “Never.”
A couple of weeks later, Rick managed to lure Cheryl onto the back of his motorcycle anyway, and they eventually married, started a family and built a small chain of pizzerias in Victoria, Texas. After they added a game room to one of those restaurants, “it was a hit from the very start,” as Rick explained in a video about the brand’s origins.
But their business partners weren’t on board with some of the Barsnesses’ ideas for expanding the concept. The couple eventually sold those restaurants and founded America’s Incredible Pizza Company in Springfield, Missouri, in 2001. Other locations followed in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; San Antonio, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and St. Louis.
This year the company’s leadership has been evaluating all six of its existing properties. It found that “shifts in consumer behavior and local demand [in the St. Louis market] have made it increasingly challenging to sustain operations at the level we strive for.”
“The decision to close our St. Louis location was incredibly difficult because of the wonderful families and team members we’ve had the privilege to serve and work alongside,” Ashley McGuire, executive vice president of America’s Incredible Pizza Company, said in a press release. “As we look ahead to our 25th anniversary and beyond, we’re making strategic changes to ensure the long-term health and vibrancy of our brand. This moment is bittersweet, but we want to end our time in St. Louis on a joyful note, with gratitude and celebration.”
All other company-owned locations are currently expected to stay open, according to the company. There are also franchised stores in Conroe, Texas, and in Monterrey and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Meanwhile, the rebranding initiative continues in a partnership with RumbleBuzz Marketing & Communications, a boutique firm in Tampa.
“We didn’t want just another rebrand—we wanted transformation,” Ryan Tiffin, the company’s director of marketing operations, said earlier this month. “Having worked in the themed entertainment space, I’ve always believed in the power of immersive storytelling to connect people and build lasting memories.”
