Amid Papa Gino's Closures, Company Announces Bankruptcy And Plans To Sell

After abruptly closing dozens of locations, the popular New England pizzeria chain Papa Gino's has announced it has filed for bankruptcy and plans to sell the company.

Patrons and workers at Papa Gino's locations tweeted Sunday about the sudden and unexpected closures, which included a number of locations in the Boston area and neighboring New Hampshire.

As of Monday, the company said it had closed about 95 locations.

In a statement on Monday, PGHC Holdings Inc., the parent company of the pizzeria and D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches, said it has reached an agreement with a Wynnchurch Capital portfolio company headquartered in Illinois to sell the company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

It also said filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections would allow it to "maintain normal business operations at its restaurants with improved liquidity as it pursues the sale," despite the closures.

The company said 100 Papa Gino's and 78 D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches restaurants remain open, and that it hoped to "move certain team members from closed restaurants" to those that will remain open. Though, again, it's yet unclear how many locations will be shut down.

"These were hard decisions but decisions we believe were absolutely necessary to allow Papa Gino's and D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches to continue serving New England now and for years to come," CEO Corey Wendland said in the statement. "If your nearest Papa Gino's or D'Angelo has closed, be assured that your favorite pizza or Steak Number 9 sandwich awaits you at a re-energized restaurant not too far away."

Papa Gino's was founded in 1961 in East Boston as Piece O' Pizza. It changed its name to Papa Gino's in 1968 and expanded throughout Boston, other parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

With reporting from the Associated Press and Laney Ruckstuhl