Manhattan, KS – After almost 55 years, the Aggieville Pizza Hut will be closing at the end of July along with the neighboring bar, The Goose. All of the other Pizza Huts in Manhattan and the surrounding areas remain open for busines – and all employees of the Aggieville location have been offered jobs at the other restaurants.
“This was the toughest decision I’ve had to make in my life,” remarked co-founder Bernie Butler,”but we
finally had to acknowledge that the financial side of the business outweighed the history of the place. Over teh last couple of decades, the way people buy pizza has shifted dramatically towards delivery over dine-in. And the Aggieville location was never suited to accomodate higher volumes in delivery. Luckily, our other locations in Westloop and Tuttel Creek (behind Wal-Mart) have been designed to get pizzas out fast and fresh and that’s exactly what they will be doing.”
Opened in 1960, the Aggieville store was the 8th Pizza Hut in the franchise’s history – and the longest running store in it’s original location. There are now over 6,000 Pizza Huts worldwide. The Aggieville restaurant was the first foray into Manhattan by franchisees Dick Hassur and Jim Nellis, who enlisted a young Topekan, Bernie Butler, to run the operations. Butler later bought out his orginal partners and brought in his longtime operations manager, Rose Pritchard, as a partner. The Store (at 1121 Moro St.) has been a centerpiece of the ever-evolving Aggieville business district since it opened.
“If you had asked me in 1960, how long the Aggieville store would have lasted, I doubt I would’ve said almost 55 years,” Butler said. “No one here even knew what a pizza was! Imagine that! But I don’t think I would have guessed how big Pizza Hut – and Manhattan and Fort Riley and Kansas State – would get either. I’m very proud of the success we’ve achieved here in Manhattan – and I’m very grateful to all of the people who have helped us get there. I’m so lucky to have been surrounded by great people. But there are two groups of people that I will be eternally thankful to: the folks who worked tirelessly in the Aggieville store over the years – and to everyone who ever dropped by or called in to order a pizza. You can’t make it in any business for 55 years without loyal customers – and we have some of the best customers in the world. We look forward to continuing to serve them at our other stores.”
The Aggieville location will close on July 26th at 11:00 PM. To order your favorite pizza, pasta, and wings for delivery in Manhattan, you can still call (785) 539-7666 – or order from www.pizzahut.com or the mobile app. For carryout and dine-in, visit the Westloop [2931 Claflin Road – (785) 539-7447] and Tuttle Creek [1005 Hostetler Drive – (785) 776-4334] stores– or call them directly for delivery.