April 03--Giordano's is coming to Navy Pier in late May.
The pizza chain's CEO Yorgo Koutsogiorgas competed for the spot through a formal application process and learned of his win in November, he said.
The pier has been undergoing a massive modernization effort to prepare for its centennial anniversary next year. Landing good eats has been a top priority, with Big Bowl and Frankie's Pizza by the Slice already open in the South Arcade.
Navy Pier Inc., the nonprofit entity that runs the pier, hopes to boost visitors from 9 million to 11.5 million annually. Koutsogiorgas said he was excited by the group's desire to also attract to the pier more native Chicagoans, who know the Giordano's brand well.
"That energy that has been infused into Navy Pier was a wonderful reason for us to consider applying," Koutsogiorgas said. "It's going to be a new Navy Pier and we want to be part of that."
The restaurant will be the company's 51st. The first Giordano's restaurant opened on Chicago's South Side in 1974.
By the end of 2015, Koutsogiorgas said he hopes to have 57 restaurants open. Three of the additional restaurants will be owned by franchisees and four by the company, including the Navy pier location.
In the next four to six years, he said, he'd like to have 100 restaurants open.
He said the ambitious, but "sensible" expansion plan is made possible by the company's new financing situation.
The Tribune reported this week that Giordano's investor Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based asset management firm, plans to use a new credit facility from GE Capital, Franchise Finance and Citizen's Bank to refinance its existing debt and fund Giordano's long-term growth initiatives.
Koutsogiorgas said much of that growth will happen in the Midwest, where people know the Giordano's name.
"They have some awareness of the Chicago-style pizza and Giordano's specifically," Koutsogiorgas said. "In our research that we have done, this has come up time and time again."
ehirst@tribpub.com
