Cassano’s Pizza King plans expansion at its Kettering headquarters

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Cassano’s Pizza King plans to expand its corporate operations in Kettering, a move its top executive said would help boost local and national distribution.

The business that’s been a mainstay in the Dayton area since the early 1950s plans to build an 18,000-square-foot freezer facility at its East Stroop Road base, a project early estimates indicate could be an investment of $4 million or more, company CEO Vic “Chip” Cassano III told the Dayton Daily News on Wednesday.

“We’re still crunching numbers, so I don’t know” total costs yet, he said.

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Cassano’s has a dough manufacturing business that distributes east of the Mississippi River and, “we’re working on getting national distribution,” he said.

“I’d like to get something under construction sooner than later,” Cassano said of the planned facility. “I’m working with my contractors right now to put a plan together,” and finalize a budget before submitting plans to the city, likely later this year.

Pending approvals, “as soon I can get everything lined up and ready to go, we want to get started sooner than later. But that’s all I can say. I don’t have a particular timeline right now,” he added.

Recent upgrades will help triple dough output, “so to able to store it, (we) need a bigger facility. (We) have the production capabilities now. It’s just about getting the ability to store it.”

When completed, the 30-foot-tall freezer structure, the restaurant next door and the headquarters at the corner of East Stroop and Hempstead Station Drive would all be connected, he said.

The planned facility would have four docks, he said. It would serve existing and additional business both locally and beyond, but it would primarily cater to customers outside the Dayton area, Cassano said.

Cassano’s has 33 restaurants throughout the Dayton region and employs more than 500 workers. The expansion would add four jobs, Cassano said.

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

The company is demolishing a structure at 1630 E. Stroop Road, next to one of its restaurants that sits between the construction site and the company’s main operations.

Cassano’s bought the .75-acre property in 2019 for $400,000 from the Asian Arts Center, Montgomery County records show.

Work to tear down that building began in recent weeks and Cassano said he hopes to have the land cleared by early April.

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