Aurelio’s Pizza closed its North Naples location and a second restaurant in Estero on Aug. 10. The chain is looking for a new franchisee to take over its Southwest Florida locations.
The Southwest Florida franchisee of Aurelio’s Pizza shuttered his locations this week in North Naples and Estero, the only restaurants in Florida for the Chicago-based chain.
Aurelio’s CEO Joe Aurelio said he is actively looking for another franchisee to take over the established locations of the pizza chain that has served the Southwest Florida market for decades.
“I hope to open a couple more locations there sooner rather than later,” Aurelio said.
Franchisee Mark Lichtman closed both area locations of Aurelio’s on Aug. 10.
Aurelio’s Pizza closed its North Naples and Estero locations Aug. 10, leaving the Chicago-based pizza chain without a restaurant in Florida. CEO Joe Aurelio says the company is seeking a new franchisee for Southwest Florida.
“Although we were profitable from day one, global economic concerns have hurt Southwest Florida to the extent that ‘season’ never came last year and I believe that ‘season’ will not return this year. Therefore, we won't be able to generate the sales needed to cover the costs of receiving all of our product and fight against the direct business headwinds,” Lichtman said.
Serving as general manager of the longtime local Aurelio’s at Coastland Center mall in Naples until it closed two years ago, Lichtman launched smaller takeout and delivery locations for the popular brand in late 2024 in Naples and last fall in Estero.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.