May 26—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — After 29 years of serving loyal customers at Capri Pizza and Restaurant in downtown Johnstown, owner Angelo DiRosa is retiring from the business and selling the building.

Capri Pizza & Restaurant, 502 Main St., is closing at the end of the day Friday, but it will reopen with a new name, a new menu and a new owner who knows Johnstown.

DiRosa is selling the building and the kitchen equipment to Lawra Stuart, who has 14 years of food service experience.

Stuart said she is retaining all of Capri's employees, and after the deal closes next week, she plans to reopen the restaurant in early June as "Main Street Pizzeria and Grill."

"The current employees of Capri will become new family members of Main Street Pizzeria and Grill on May 30th," she said. "They are excited to continue their journey in the world that they know, and I am excited to become part of the transformation that is taking place in downtown Johnstown."

DiRosa is not selling Capri recipes or the restaurant name — those will stay within his family. There are two other Capri locations. His mother owns the location in the Richland Town Center in Richland Township, and his sister owns the location in the Westwood Plaza in Lower Yoder Township.

Stuart walked into the downtown restaurant in January to ask if she could rent Capri's dining room to open a retail business, DiRosa said.

"I said, 'I'll do you one better,'" he said. "I said, 'I'll sell it.' That's when the wheels started moving."

Stuart's plans for the building include two separate businesses. Initially, she wanted to rent the dining room at 504 Main St. to be a brick-and-mortar location for her e-commerce store, The Honeypot.

When DiRosa offered her the kitchen at 502 Main St., too, she sat down with him to go over the numbers, "and it went from there," she said.

"The Honeypot is currently a successful e-commerce retail store that has been in business for the last four years," she said. "The building is currently undergoing renovations. The Honeypot will have a soft opening June 1."

Hours of operation are tentatively set from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

"I am excited to offer the community the opportunity to purchase items from stores such as Target, Walmart, Home Depot, CVS, Rite Aid and more at a fraction of the cost," she said. "Some items include toiletries, seasonal, clothes, lawn and garden, makeup, toys, housewares, home decor, pool and water sports, back-to-school items, summer, health and wellness, cleaning supplies, bath and body and more."

Main Street Pizzeria and Grill will operate in the pick-up and delivery side of Capri.

"It will also be transformed to an industrial look that will offer additional seating at the back half of the restaurant, behind the retail store," Stuart said. "It will definitely be a warm, welcoming establishment where you will want to gather with friends and family.

"Main Street Pizzeria and Grill will have a soft opening on June 1, offering a limited menu for the first week. The current hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be extending as soon as renovations are well on their way."

DiRosa's family's business in Johnstown began 50 years ago with a Capri Pizza location in the Richland Mall. The name Capri comes from a town in Italy where his father, Filippo DiRosa, vacationed as a child. DiRosa's father immigrated to the United States from Italy at age 12, he said.

"Capri was his favorite place," DiRosa said. "It's a town that held fond memories for him."

DiRosa's father owned and operated a Capri location in Indiana County before retiring and moving to Florida in search of warmer weather.

Today, DiRosa is retiring the downtown Johnstown location, where he has worked for nearly three decades. He plans on expanding his side business: — he sells sports tickets through Ticketmaster.

However, DiRosa, 46, hinted at a possible comeback to the restaurant business someday. He said that although his father retired, he opened a Capri location in Tampa, Florida, that is still open.

"Sometimes it calls you back — that's my worry," he said. "It is in my blood. I was at the restaurant at the Richland Mall a day after I was born."

Although he's not counting out an eventual return to the restaurant business, he said it's the furthest thing from his mind now.

"It's almost surreal," he said. "It's been 29 years of doing this. I could do it in my sleep."

DiRosa said he felt that it was time for a change. He said the past few years since the COVID-19 pandemic began have been especially difficult.

"When I say, 'It's time,' that's what I mean — since COVID, employment has changed, customers have changed, and the product has changed in terms of price and supply," he said.