Coeur D’Alene-based Pita Pit seeks to expand

The Coeur d’Alene-based Pita Pit is looking for small business investors to create at least 25 new Pita Pit franchises around the country in the coming year.

Vice president of corporate business Peter Riggs said he’s heard from many interested investors who were stymied by a lack of funding.

“A lot of people are in a holding pattern right now until they can get the financing they need,” he said.

The job is suited to an investor in a college town who doesn’t mind staying up late. Pita Pits typically locate near campuses and remain open for the crowds who leave the bars at 2 or 3 a.m.

Pita Pit has grown rapidly since its U.S. stores were purchased from the company’s Canadian owners in 2005 by Coeur d’Alene native Jack Riggs, a physician who served as a Republican lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2001 to 2003. The U.S. Pita Pit has opened more than 140 U.S. stores since then, and opened 19 last year. It costs around $250,000 to open a Pita Pit. The restaurants usually go into a 1,200 to 1,500 foot space, said Peter Riggs, also Jack Riggs’ son.

For those who aren’t in a holding pattern, the Small Business Administration can help with loan guarantees and advice. Pita Pit is on the SBA’s list of pre-approved franchises. That doesn’t mean any loan will necessarily be approved, but it does mean the SBA has examined Pita Pit’s franchise documents and is comfortable the company is offering an independent business, not a subset of a larger corporation, said Rodney Grzadzieleski, a business development specialist with SBA in Boise.

Thirty-three people work in Pita Pit’s headquarters in Coeur d’Alene.