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“It is with great regret that we announce the the closure” of the restaurant, the sign posted on the Kettering Marco’s Pizza shop said. “We at this location have served some of the most loyal and local customers.”
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This is the second restaurant closure along the south Kettering stretch of Bigger Road in two months. Shantz Express closed its doors in October. But the neighborhood also has added a new restaurant, Thai Street Noodles, which opened less than two weeks ago at 5844 Bigger Road, and it is home to the always-bustling Seajax Tavern.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the closing of this location, but this isn’t the end,” store officials wrote on the sign. “Marco’s Pizza will continue to serve and deliver at our Smithville (Road) location.”
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When callers attempt to reach the Xenia Marco’s Pizza restaurant at 281 E. Main St., they are greeted by a recorded message that says, “We apologize, but our location is no longer open for business.” It was not immediately clear when the Xenia store shut down.
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An employee of that store at 2400 S. Smithville Road on the northern Kettering border confirmed that his shop is now serving most of the territory previously served by the Bigger Road store, and said all employees of the south Kettering store were offered positions at other Marco’s Pizza locations.
A spokeswoman for Marco’s Pizza confirmed the two closings late this afternoon, Thursday Dec. 26, and said because most of the chain’s locations are owned by individual franchisees, “there could be a variety of reasons for closing. In the case of the Kettering closure, it was a shift in the franchisee’s overall growth strategy for the area. In regard to Xenia, we assume it was a real-estate allocation decision based on market conditions.”
The spokeswoman’s message to Marco’s Pizza customers in the Dayton area was this:
“We thank you for your support of this Ohio-born brand and for making Marco’s Pizza America’s Most Loved and Most Trusted Pizza Brand, according to the 2019 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study. We encourage you to visit our 11 Dayton-area locations or our other 950 locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Bahamas.”
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Toledo-based Marco’s Pizza, founded in 1978, opened three stores in the Dayton area in 2015, including the Smithville Road location, which replaced a nearby Marco’s location in the Breitenstrater Square Shopping Center on Patterson Road in Dayton.
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