Local pizza place to close, new burger place planned

DAR/Donna Farley

A longtime Poplar Bluff pizza business is slated to close by the end of the year and be replaced with a popular burger franchise.

The parent company for the Pizza Hut chain announced Monday that it would close 300 locations permanently as it continues to restructure and attempt to emerge from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in July.

While it’s unclear where all of the shuttered locations will be, Poplar Bluff is on the list.

A proposal was presented Monday to Poplar Bluff City Council members that would replace the current Pizza Hut location on Westwood Boulevard with a Rally’s Drive-In. Rally’s is a burger franchise that includes locations in Farmington and Sikeston.

The current Pizza Hut will be torn down and replaced with a new construction building, said Billy Cobb, of Smith & Company Engineers, who presented a request from Rally’s for a drive up permit.

The new location could be open before the end of the year, he said.

Rally’s is set to close on the purchase of the property after receiving council approval for the drive up permit.

The company plans to construct a 954-square-foot building with a new footprint on the property, according to city documents.

It would not offer eat in dining, but would have a large drive up area and a walk up window.

Permit requests were made by PAJCO Inc. of Cape Girardeau, and approved by council.