Pizza Ranch closes in Charles City

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Pizza Ranch has closed its doors — at least for now.

A sign on the door Monday read “Store Closed. Thank you for your business.”

Ryan Achterhoff, chief administrative officer of Pizza Ranch Inc., confirmed the closing, which happened Sunday.

Charles City Pizza Ranch owner Lloyd Bier could not be reached for comment. Bier, who lives in Garner, also owns a Pizza Ranch in that town. His Garner restaurant is still currently open.

Pizza Ranch opened in Charles City in 2000.

Achterhoff said it was a business decision on Bier’s part to close the Charles City location. He said the corporate office of Pizza Ranch does have an interest in reopening the store under new ownership, but said it’s very early in terms of discussions of that nature.

“From a Pizza Ranch perspective, corporately we’re working to get that open as a Pizza Ranch,” said Achterhoff. “That’s what we’re hoping. There’s not enough information to share right now, so that’s pretty much where it’s at.”

Mark Wicks, Charles City community development director, said he was given no warning about the restaurant closing.

“There wasn’t any local notification,” he said, and added, “Every time you close a door, a window opens. It happens and life goes on.”

The closure of the Pizza Ranch comes after other restaurants like Three C Bistro and I Don’t Care have also ceased operation in the last couple of years, reducing options for people looking to dine out in Charles City.

Wicks said there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion via focus groups and committees concerning eating establishments in town. The key is offering more dining options for customers to explore.

“Restaurant recruitment has been identified as a priority need. We do the best we can,” said Wicks. “We are working on things we have control over — some things you don’t.”

Wicks said he believes outside factors, not local, played a role in the Pizza Ranch closing. He’s also well aware that running a restaurant isn’t easy.

“A restaurant is a very tough business. It requires a lot of support from the community for a restaurant to succeed,”  said Wicks. “It’s always unfortunate when a community loses a business. We never want to see that happen. We hate to see that, but businesses come and go. Some of them have control over that and some they don’t.”