Le Mars Pizza Hut gets larger digs

The restaurant is now located one one end of a retail center built by the local Pizza Hut franchisee, Staab Management Co.

The new digs offer larger seating and a more modern design than the Pizza Hut's former leased space in a 30-year-old building at 835 Hawkeye Ave.

"Once the lease was up at the end of last December, we knew we needed to do something," Staab Management's Mike Staab. "The property was pretty worn out.

In smaller markets like Le Mars, "it's been real tough from a revenue standpoint," to build a structure soley for a Pizza Hut. To share its fixed costs with other tenants, the developers built the retail center, located between an Arby's and 4 Brothers Bar & Grill in a new commercial area on the southwest end of the community.

A  local State Farm Insurance office also has moved into the Staab-built retail center, and Le Mars' first Taco Bell, which is scheduled to open in April. Mike Staab said there is space remaining for one or two additional tenants.

The new Pizza Hut's dining area seats around 95, and has about 40 employees, more than double the total at the old location.

The menu offers the traditional mix of pizza, pasta, salad and wings. In the dining area, the walls are lined with sports memorabilia from local high school and college teams.

Staab Management, based in Grand Island, Neb., operates 59 Pizza Huts in four Midwest states, including four Sioux City locations.