Pizza Hut at 11th and Asbury Closes Shop

After a four-year run at the corner of 11th Street and Asbury Avenue,  closed without notice on Sept. 7.

A sign on the door reads:

Loyal Pizza Hut Customers

As of Wednesday, September 7, Pizza Hut will no longer be open for business. Capital Pizza Huts is revitalizing the market and planning on building and remodeling restaurants throughout the Southern NJ market.

The sign ends with the directive to contact Ed Herron, vice president of operations, at 856-881-6298 with questions, comments and concerns.

Neither Herron, nor Pizza Hut, which is owned by Yum! Brands, Inc. and has approximately 12,000 Pizza Hut locations in 95 countries, returned phone calls or e-mails seeking comment on Monday.

The departure of Pizza Hut leaves the island without a late-night delivery option. Domino’s, which had occupied 11th and Asbury for about 20 years, moved to the 900 block of Haven Avenue when Pizza Hut moved into town in 2007. Domino’s closed in 2009.

Pizza Hut’s neighbors were surprised to learn that the business was pulling up stakes. Woody Robinson, owner of across the street at 1052 Asbury Ave., said he was told a week earlier by a Pizza Hut delivery person that the store would be closing after Labor Day.

“Maybe they couldn’t survive in the off-season here,” he speculated. “Between the economy and 100,000 people here in the summer and 10,000 here in the winter, maybe they couldn’t figure out how to make it work.”

Kathy Johnson, who opened Kathy’s Holiday on the southeast corner of 11th and Asbury in August, was sorry to see she'd lost a neighbor. “I thought it would be a good anchor for me,” she said. “We’re open at night and they were open at night. I thought this would be a nice, bright corner.”