Sbarro corporate timeline
1956 - The Sbarro family opens an Italian grocery store in Brooklyn. The store also offered fresh, authentic Italian food including homemade mozzarella, imported cheese and sausage.
1967 - The family opens its first mall-based restaurant in Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Brooklyn. This store was one of the first modern Sbarro concept.
2007 - MidOceans Partners, an equity firm operating out of New York and London, buys the company.
2011 - Sbarro files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it works to restructure.
2014 - The company again files for bankruptcy after closing 155 of the company’s 400 stores in North America.
Source: Sbarro.eu, The Associated Press
Demolition is underway as the Atrium says goodbye to a 13-year-old pizza shop.
Ball State’s contract with Sbarro ended Tuesday, and the university is looking for a different pizza business to take its place, said Jon Lewis, director of Dining.
“[Dining services] thought it was time for a change,” Lewis said. “We felt like students were asking for a change [after 13 years].”
When the news was announced in a campus-wide email, students tweeted about it — a few to say goodbye but many more to say “good riddance.”
Jordan Hansel, a senior communications major, said he liked to eat at Sbarro, but he knows some people that really despised the restaurant.
“Some people are like ‘I hate Sbarro, how can you eat there?’” he said. “And others are like, ‘I could go for some Sbarro right now.’”
Jenna Wise, a senior nursing major, said she is excited to see a new pizza shop move in.
She said in a perfect world, she would like to see Cousin Vinny’s or Greek’s Pizzeria take over the vacant space.
Lewis said the university is looking to add a franchise into the Atrium, instead of renting out the space, which will allow university Dining employees to work at the new business.
He said the space is currently being renovated with a new front counter area and replacement ovens to accommodate a new business.
“Our hope is to have a new pizza partnership by the time August rolls around and Fall Semester begins,” Lewis said.
Boar’s Head Deli will offer personal-sized flatbread pizzas throughout the summer and also serve pasta entrees on select days to make up for Sbarro’s closing.
Lewis said with so many pizza options, he feels like students are ready for a change.
“Sbarro is not exactly something that many students would come across unless they spend a lot of time in airports or malls,” he said. “... So I think it was an interesting brand, but I think students are ready [for something different].”
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