CiCi’s Pizza likely coming to town

It’s creeping up on two years since Lowe’s opened its doors in McMinnville and Cumberland Plaza still has two empty stores. That means it’s time to officially admit my prediction was wrong.

When Lowe’s first came to town, I said it would take no time at all to fill the vacant shopping center space. But those stores have continued to stay empty despite heavy traffic.

Now it appears one of the spaces has finally been rented to CiCi’s Pizza, which should go over well here because it’s an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for $3.99. I’ve never eaten at a CiCi’s, although there are locations in Murfreesboro, Cookeville and Nashville.

“Even though it’s a buffet, it’s delicious pizza,” said realtor Doug Rice, who is in charge of leasing Cumberland Plaza. “I eat there all the time and I enjoy it.

“But I should say this is not a done deal. They’ve signed a letter of intent and I’d like to think it could be a done deal in two or three weeks, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

While the deal might not be officially done, I’ve heard from reliable Business Pulse sources that CiCi’s representatives have been out measuring the building and compiling other specifications. I think a deal is fairly certain, although you never know until it’s signed on the dotted line.

CiCi’s opened its first restaurant in Texas in 1985 and now has 560 stores in 26 states. According to restaurant information, 16 kinds of pizza are always available on the buffet to accompany pasta, salad and desserts.