Derrick Rose buys into Chicago pizza franchise Giordano’s

Derrick Rose has a new business venture. The Bulls point guard has become an equity partner in Giordano’s, a Chicago-based pizza franchise. ” The company has 43 restaurants with only three of those located outside of its home state Illinois. The company is looking to sxpand it’s base and with Rose on board, the point guard’s reach will be just the boost they need.

Rose paid for his undisclosed piece of the pie, which will entitle him to the share of the profits as the company seeks to branch out, first to the Midwest and in “Big Ten” college cities and eventually to other states notably California and Texas, the two top states where Giordano’s says it ships the most frozen pizzas to.

As a private company, Giordano’s doesn’t disclose revenue, but the company’s CEO and president Yorgo Koutsogiorgas said the brand has been growing at 5 to 9 percent a year, without price increases. He said the company will make roughly 13.4 million pizza pies this year.

Of course, one of the big advantages of having an NBA MVP on board is marketing and utilizing his image. Rose will be featured on pizza boxes and his personal favorite will be named for him, a thin crust pizza with cheese, sausage and red peppers.