Salina’s new Pizza Hut concept coming to South Ninth Street

Pizza Hut on South Ninth Street in Salina was torn down and will be rebuilt into a new space opening next year.

Grand Mere Restaurant Group, which is a franchisee of Pizza Hut, said work on the building began in March with demolition on the site at 2935 S. Ninth St. beginning last week.

“We’re so excited to bring our new Pizza Hut concept to Salina and with that revamp our … brand in that side of town,” said Monica Smith, the vice president of real estate for Grand Mere.

The new store will include convenient options to pick up food, including a pickup window.

“We will (also) have a pickup lobby, so folks can go in and order pizza at the counter,” Smith said.

One change to the location is that it will not have seating for dining.

“We’re finding that folks (are eating in the restaurant) less and less,” Smith said. “They generally grab it and take it home or wherever they’re going, so we’re moving our floorplans and platforms in that direction.”

Smith said the new concept will allow the company to build a two-tenant building called Shoppes at Salina, with Pizza Hut at one end and another tenant at the other.

“It’s going to be real aesthetically pleasing to (fit in) with the other new builds in that part of town,” Smith said.

The site will be ready to start construction on the new building in May, with hopes to have it completed in early 2023. In the meantime, delivery service in Salina shouldn’t be impacted.

“Our other location … off of Santa Fe (Avenue), we got prepped to make sure we can (continue to) serve the community as a whole,” Smith said.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina Pizza Hut being rebuilt with new look, will have pickup window