Pizza Hut, Superpetz close in Hamilton

Two other Pizza Hut restaurants remain open; company mum on any plans.

HAMILTON — A pizza place and pet store are the city’s latest business casualties.

Superpetz closed its doors July 10 after 16 years in business at its Lindenwald location, 4020 Pleasant Ave. And also this month, Pizza Hut at 2039 S. Erie Highway, served its last pie.

“Basically it’s a matter of competition and a sluggish economy that’s no longer allowing us to be profitable,” said Carol Kester, human resources director of Pennslyvania-based Superpetz.

The national pet supply retailer also closed its location in Middletown. Both stores, which had about 15 employees each, opened in 1994, Kester said.

The two area stores are among four closed nationally, including locations in South Carolina and Tennessee.

Superpetz was started in Dayton almost 20 years ago and had about 400 employees nationwide before the closings, Kester said. Three Ohio locations remain — Miamisburg, Kettering and Troy.

Hamilton’s Pizza Hut is one of seven locations closing in Southwest Ohio. Four of the targeted stores are in Cincinnati and the others are in Middletown and Dayton that are either closed or slated to close in the coming weeks, Pizza Hut spokesman Chris Fuller said Monday.

A phone message at the shuttered Ohio 4 eatery referred customers to other local Pizza Huts on the city’s West Side at 108 N. Brookwood Ave., and at 510 Nilles Road in Fairfield, which is a dine-in restaurant.

Fuller said the restaurants that are closing may be remodeled and may reopen in their current location, or there may be other newly constructed Pizza Hut restaurants that could open nearby.

However, Fuller said the chain is not ready to announce detailed plans.

Staff Writer Mark Fisher contributed to this report.

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