Local restaurant Carrboro Pizza Oven for sale as owner relocates

Carrboro Pizza Oven, a pizza restaurant at Carr Mill Mall, is in the market for a new owner. 

Located at the heart of Carrboro, the restaurant makes pizzas with locally sourced ingredients and features Detroit, New York, Grandma and gluten-friendly pizzas. 

Jeff Mauldin, the original owner, started the business in 2013. In early 2021, his family relocated to Southern California. He joined them in December and decided to sell the business earlier this month.

"I just wouldn't be able to give it my attention that it deserved," he said. "On one hand, I was very sad about it. On another hand, I do think it's a cornerstone in that community and I hope whoever takes it over continues to be a part of that community."

Mauldin said he and his family moved to Southern California to support his high school-age son pursue his dream of being an actor.

“(We) sort of ran out of opportunities for him to explore and grow in that vein,” he said. “He had an opportunity to go to a high school (in California) that's specializing in developing those skills.”

But Mauldin didn't plan on selling Carrboro Pizza Oven initially. He tried to operate the store from afar for a few months.

“He relocated last fall to the West Coast and was interested in running it as an absentee owner,” Neal DePersia, a North Carolina real estate broker who is helping Mauldin sell the store, said.

However, Mauldin said it was difficult to hold onto the store while being 2,700 miles away and not involved in the daily business.

“I believe that successful small business is really rooted in the owner or the operator’s ability to connect with the community and get to participate in the community, live in the community, give back to the community,” he said.

After moving to be with his family, Mauldin turned over the operations to the new general manager, Calvin Linn.

Mauldin said that while Linn is currently operating the restaurant, he is not the owner.

"Once the sale goes through, Calvin may or may not stay on with the new owner," he said. 

Carrboro Pizza Oven is listed on the website of DePersia & Associates. According to the website, the store has a gross revenue of $527,000. The asking price is $130,000, and the new owner will pay a rent of $4,168 per month.

DePersia said the store should be sold very quickly since it is priced "aggressively," and the new owner could easily make a six-figure income.

“We've had several people that have inquired about what's involved in owning and operating Carrboro Pizza Oven," he said.

Mary McDonald, a customer of Carrboro Pizza Oven, will continue to eat at the restaurant so long as it remains open. 

"I think the pizza here is great," she said. "I love it."

Although Mauldin is selling Carrboro Pizza Oven, he is not done with pizza altogether. He is opening a new pizzeria called The Ria in downtown Huntington Beach, which will open in two weeks. 

Maudlin added that making the decision to sell Carrboro Pizza Oven was a bittersweet one.

"I really love being a part of the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community," he said. "We went to school there, we made our home there for a long time, and we were happy to be a small business in that community."

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