MOD Pizza is entering the market with a Liberty location

In December, Seattle-based MOD Pizza confirmed plans to enter the Kansas City market.

Franchisee Scott Womack of Womack Restaurants Inc. in Terre Haute, Ind., said he planned to open 15 restaurants in the metro area and Kansas by 2021.

Now he’s signed a lease for The Shoppes at Liberty Triangle, 1912 Star Drive, Suite A & B, in Liberty for an expected summer opening. The 350,000-square-foot shopping center is at the northeast corner of Interstate 35 and Missouri 152 and anchored by Lowe’s and Hy-Vee.

MOD Pizza offers made-to-order individual artisan-style pizzas using fresh-pressed dough, its signature sauces and a choice of more than 30 toppings — including spinach, seasonal roasted vegetables, bacon, crumbled meatballs, dairy-free cheese and pesto drizzle — for about $8. They are cooked in an 800-degree oven in less than three minutes.

Specialty pizzas include the Dominic (with white sauce, asiago cheese, fresh chopped basil, red onion, sliced tomatoes and mild sausage), the Dillon James (with mozzarella, asiago, fresh chopped basil, garlic, sliced tomatoes and red sauce), and the Calexico (mozzarella, gorgonzola, chicken, jalapenos, hot buffalo sauce and red sauce). It also offers pizza salad (customers can create their own salad on a warm asiago pizza crust).

Other menu items include hand-spun milkshakes, house-made lemonades, iced tea, wine and local craft beers.

The company was founded in 2008 and opened its 100th location last month in California. It plans to have nearly 200 locations by the end of the year, including six new markets: Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

It calls its employees the MOD Squad and says it will hire people who may have a troubled background but are looking for a fresh start. Fortune magazine recently put it on its annual list of the “20 Best Workplaces in Retail” for such perks as monetary bonuses for managers based on their store performance and full health benefits as long as employees work more than 26 hours a week.

While most of Womack’s MOD Pizza locations will be in the metro area, he also is considering markets like Lawrence and St. Joseph. He also plans 10 locations in Ohio.

Womack also has about a dozen Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen locations in the Kansas City area, as well as four in Tulsa, Okla.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "MOD Pizza is entering the market with a Liberty location."