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Buddy's Pizza, home of the original square Detroit-style pizza, has been acquired by local investors from CapitalSpring, an equity firm that bought the chain in 2018.
Andrew Dickow
The group is led by local entrepreneurs Saber Ammori, Andrew Dickow, and Kevin Denha, the Detroit Free Press reports. The investors say they grew up with the Buddy’s brand and see it as a “defining part of Detroit's cultural identity,” as well as the city itself.
"For us, this is deeply personal," said Andrew Dickow, one of the group's principals, according to the Freep. “The crust had that unmistakable crunch, the pizza felt premium in a way nothing else did, and it was the highlight of my day. Buddy's has always been more than a meal. It is a part of Detroit's fabric, and for a lot of us, it is tied to family, tradition, and memory."
Another investor, Ammori, said in the press release:
"Our goal is not to change what makes Buddy's special, but to reinforce it. That starts with our employees, our commitment to authentic Detroit-style pizza, and delivering the level of customer service that our guests have come to expect from a brand with this kind of heritage.”
One of CapitalSpring's goals was to expand the brand's footprint beyond Southeast Michigan. Though in the past few years, some customers have said that they feel the pizza isn't quite as good as it used to be.
"Hopefully they bring back what made Buddy’s special," wrote Deadline Detroit reader Ray DeMarc on Facebook. "Their last owners really killed the quality. The flavor changed and they started skimping on sauce and toppings. Typical of a giant investment firm. Right now the only thing that made Buddy’s special you can only really get at Loui’s."
CapitalSpring bought Buddy's Pizza in 2018 from the Jacobs family, which bought it around 1972. Before that, the Guerra family ran it and started serving square pies in 1946 at the original shop on Conant Street in Detroit.---
