Peter Riggs saved Pita Pit once. But can he do it twice?

Two decades ago, Riggs was a student at the University of Idaho and loved his local Pita Pit. After graduating, he and some friends bought a few franchises in California, and then asked for a development agreement for the whole state. Instead, the Canada-based company asked them to take over all U.S. operations. "They were ready to move on," Riggs says. So he and some partners bought the business, grew it to 250 locations, and sold off their stake in 2018. But during the pandemic, the U.S. brand shrunk to 65 locations. So this last March, Riggs (who'd become an Idaho state senator) returned as U.S. CEO.

To save Pita Pit again, he knew he'd have to work with his remaining franchisees — but they were distrustful. "There hadn't been a lot of support from corporate in the years we were gone," he says. "The only way I could convince these franchisees that everything was going........

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