The first America's Incredible Pizza Company restaurant was founded in
Springfield,
Missouri by Rick and Cheryl Barsness in 2002. In 1975, the Barsnesses owned 11 franchises of
Mr. Gatti's Pizza. In 2002, the couple sold the franchises to fund their own company, which was called Springfield's Incredible Pizza Company. AIPC grew out of an idea from its founder, Rick Barsness. When Barsness was a
hockey player in high school, his team reached the state championships, but his father never attended a game. His father's absence nurtured a boyhood dream of a place where families could eat and have fun together. This was the type of place Barsness wished he could have spent time with his father. In 2003, years of legal battles came to an end when Rick Barsness agreed to pay Gatti's a $1 million
settlement. Mr. Gatti's had charged that Barsness had violated his franchise
contract with them, and had taken
trade secrets. In addition to the $1 million payout, Barsness also agreed to pay Mr. Gatti's Inc. 1% of IPC's net sales for the next 10 years. AIPC started franchising and established its corporate headquarters in
Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2003. It moved the headquarters to Springfield, Missouri in 2009. AIPC restaurants have an average of 250 employees and it costs $5–9 million to start a restaurant. America's Incredible Pizza announced that its location at
Lafayette Square Mall in Indianapolis would close March 19, 2012. ==Locations and format==