After 40 years in business, Rob’s Pizza in Murrysville will shut its doors this fall.
Owner Rob Peterson, who has been running the business by himself since the beginning of the pandemic, said he’s decided not to renew his lease when it ends on Oct. 1.
Rent is increasing, and the lease is a five-year minimum, he said.
“I just can’t do it,” he said. “It’s been tough the last few years as it is.”
Peterson, 67, of Murrysville, who graduated from Franklin Regional in 1974, said his sole pizza shop location has always been in the Village of Murrysville plaza.
“We had some good times through the years,” he said.
Though he hasn’t determined which day will be the shop’s last, Peterson said it most likely will be between mid-September and Oct. 1.
During the pandemic, Peterson said he was able to keep Rob’s Pizza open — and business was busy.
“Things slowed down … once everything opened,” he said. “Especially in Murrysville, there’s a lot of places to eat.”
Other small businesses in Murrysville are in the same boat, according to Peterson.
“Five years is a long time to be tied in, and not knowing what the economic future’s going to be — who knows?” he said. “I’d rather not be tied down to anything like that.”
Peterson said he hopes other independent pizza shops will be able to survive in the coming years. As a teenager, Peterson said he worked at the former Cosmo’s Pizza in Murrysville. Before he opened Rob’s Pizza, there was a different pizza shop in the location.
“There aren’t as many as there were,” he said. “It’s just very expensive to be in these types of buildings and survive.”
As of now, Peterson said he’s been working to sell his equipment and take down the memorabilia that he’s collected on the walls.
“It’s been a little stressful,” he said, as he didn’t realize the end of the lease was so soon.
Peterson said he will be looking for a new gig somewhere, but he’s not sure what he will do yet. Hopefully, something with less hours, he said.
“My customers have been awesome — they really have.”
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at mswift@triblive.com.