Roundup: Another fast-fire pizza entry; Big Red taking Kahn’s space

The latest smattering of restaurant and retail openings and closings in the Indianapolis area:

• Project Pie, a fast-fired pizza chain from Carlsbad, Calif., is coming to Indianapolis. Local franchisee Luke Angermeier has signed a deal to open five stores in the next four years.

The first location, a stand-alone restaurant, is slated to be built in an outlet near the Meijer store at 8375 E. 96th St. and could be open in early 2015.

Project Pie has just four locations nationwide—three in California and one in Las Vegas—but has deals signed to open 100 more.

“It’s almost like going into a Chipotle, but instead of getting a burrito, you’re getting a pizza,” Angermeier said.

A similar concept, Blaze Pizza, opened in February on Indiana Avenue near the IUPUI campus.

• Big Red Liquors bought the Kahn’s Fine Wines & Spirits store at 25 N. Pennsylvania St. downtown, according to Kahn’s owner Jim Arnold, and will open under the new banner Thursday.

Arnold said he sold the building to a private investor in January before unloading the business to Big Red.

“We are friends, so instead of them coming and competing with me, they made me an offer that was good for both of us, and I accepted it,” Arnold said in an e-mail. “Now I can focus on what I do best…the Keystone Superstore.”
 
Arnold now has just one Kahn’s store, at 5341 N. Keystone Ave., after closing another, at 2342 W. 86th St., last month. A Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is slated to open in that space.

Bloomington-based Big Red Liquors entered the Indianapolis market in March 2013 by acquiring the assets of United Package Liquors Inc. It now has 23 locations in the metro area.

• Charley’s Grilled Subs and Lite on the Mayo are taking two of three vacancies at the Circle Centre mall food court, according to signs posted at the spaces.

Columbus, Ohio-based Charley’s is set to occupy the space vacated by the Great Steak & Potato Co., while Lite on the Mayo is going in where Frulati Cafe & Bakery was located.

Charley’s has locations at Castleton Square Mall and Greenwood Park Mall. Circle Centre manager Simon Property Group did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking information about Lite on the Mayo.

• Charlie & Barney’s has reopened, at 930 W. 10th St. in Buckingham’s The Avenue mixed-use development. Co-owners Ken Thorpe and Clarence Lyles have resurrected the Hoosier staple known for its signature chili along with founder and original owner Richard Hogshire.

Hogshire closed the flagship store at 225 E. Ohio St. in April 2013 after 36 years in business. At its peak, Charlie & Barney’s had a total of eight restaurants, with locations in Indianapolis; Atlanta; Denver; Charlotte, N.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Lexington, Ky.

In Broad Ripple:

• Periwinkle Paper & Home at 6323 Guilford Ave. has closed. Owners of The Usual Suspects restaurant next door plan to open a lightly used furniture and vintage clothing store called North Block Popup in the space within the next week.

• Gallery Two opens April 17 at 5912 N. College Ave. next to Fine Estate Art & Rugs. The gallery has 200 original works available from the “finest Indiana and Midwestern artists.”