BYOPizza owner brings on Springfield partners

BYOPizza founder Michael Felts brought on Springfield partners to form a corporate franchising entity. Meanwhile, its downtown restaurant, the first store opened in the area, has been temporarily closed for renovations and an expansion.

Springfield entrepreneur Jason Graf said he and business partner Paul Freeman of JP Advisors LLC have teamed with Felts and Ryan O’Reilly of private equity firm Westward Alliance LLC to create BYOP Corporate LLC. Graf said the three-way partnership was finalized Jan. 9. BYOP Corporate also is owned, in part, by BYOP Franchising LLC, a company formed by Felts, former Dallas Cowboys player Daniel Loper, country music singer Jerrod Niemann and songwriter Richie Brown.

“We’ll be refreshing the concept and reopening the downtown location with a target date of March 1,” Graf said.

Graf said the partners signed on for additional space at the Wilhoit Plaza immediately next door to the storefront at Jefferson Avenue and Pershing Street. A former Planet Smoothie location, the extra space doubles BYOP’s square footage to 2,800. The redesign also would allow the restaurant to offer delivery within 1 mile and possibly expand into take-and-bake territory, he said. When it reopens, the store would employ 24, up from about 16, Graf said.

Felts opened the Springfield build-your-own pizza store in December 2013. He originally partnered with Loper, Niemann and Brown to sell the franchise concept. The chain also operates stores in Seminole, Texas, and Redondo Beach, Calif., according to its website.

Graf said the partners are exploring a second Springfield location to serve as a corporate flagship and training store.[[In-content Ad]]