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College Hill Pizza Pub will expand to West Ridge Mall sometime this summer, owner Henry McClure said Thursday. (FILE PHOTO/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL)
College Hill Pizza Pub to expand
Date for opening not yet set
March 12, 2015
The College Hill Pizza Pub owner is preparing to expand across town to West Ridge Mall, 1801 S.W. Wanamaker.
Henry McClure said Thursday that he plans to open an “inside/outside” Pizza Pub sometime this summer, but there isn’t a set date yet. An “inside/outside” store would have an outside entrance, as well as an entrance inside. He said he will be taking much of the space inside in order to have a bigger store.
College Hill Pizza Pub offers 10-inch personal pizzas that customers can make their own by picking their favorite toppings, sauce and cheeses.
“With my background, I feel comfortable going into this deal,” he said.
The fast casual pizza restaurant will take the place of the Cali Pro nail salon that currently resides near an entrance in the mall. McClure said the nail salon will be moving to another location, and he plans to use the bigger space to incorporate a meeting room, which will be free, and adding delivery.
“Simon (the company that owns West Ridge Mall), they are really trying to find local people to come into the mall,” he said.
With the delivery, McClure said he also will incorporate it with the current location, 1418 S.W. Lane, beginning April 1. He said he wasn’t sure of the delivery radius just yet, but said employees deliver to the entirety of Lawrence.
“Where I see the future of Pizza Pubs is in the mall,” McClure said. “For Topeka, (West Ridge Mall) is a great mall.”
McClure said his development for the new location began about a year ago. He said he and his business partners had been looking at other locations, but he got the idea to look inside the mall when he - who also works as a real estate developer - looked at another Petland of Topeka’s lease to move into West Ridge.
“I told my business partners, ‘We need to look into the mall,’” McClure said.
Late night customers shouldn’t worry, though. McClure said he intends to keep the West Ridge location open until 2 a.m. The College Hill location is open until 3 a.m. and McClure said he was sure the Lawrence location stays open until 4 a.m.
“Topeka probably needs more 24-hour places,” he said.
Henry McClure said Thursday that he plans to open an “inside/outside” Pizza Pub sometime this summer, but there isn’t a set date yet. An “inside/outside” store would have an outside entrance, as well as an entrance inside. He said he will be taking much of the space inside in order to have a bigger store.
College Hill Pizza Pub offers 10-inch personal pizzas that customers can make their own by picking their favorite toppings, sauce and cheeses.
“With my background, I feel comfortable going into this deal,” he said.
The fast casual pizza restaurant will take the place of the Cali Pro nail salon that currently resides near an entrance in the mall. McClure said the nail salon will be moving to another location, and he plans to use the bigger space to incorporate a meeting room, which will be free, and adding delivery.
“Simon (the company that owns West Ridge Mall), they are really trying to find local people to come into the mall,” he said.
With the delivery, McClure said he also will incorporate it with the current location, 1418 S.W. Lane, beginning April 1. He said he wasn’t sure of the delivery radius just yet, but said employees deliver to the entirety of Lawrence.
“Where I see the future of Pizza Pubs is in the mall,” McClure said. “For Topeka, (West Ridge Mall) is a great mall.”
McClure said his development for the new location began about a year ago. He said he and his business partners had been looking at other locations, but he got the idea to look inside the mall when he - who also works as a real estate developer - looked at another Petland of Topeka’s lease to move into West Ridge.
“I told my business partners, ‘We need to look into the mall,’” McClure said.
Late night customers shouldn’t worry, though. McClure said he intends to keep the West Ridge location open until 2 a.m. The College Hill location is open until 3 a.m. and McClure said he was sure the Lawrence location stays open until 4 a.m.
“Topeka probably needs more 24-hour places,” he said.
