‘Noooooooo!!!!!’ Decades-old Johnson County pizza place closes after losing its lease

A Pizza Shoppe has been operating in an Olathe building since America was gearing up for its bicentennial.

But after 46 years serving specialty pizzas and salads with the chain’s famous The Pink Stuff creamy garlic salad dressing, the restaurant, at 736 W. Park St., shut down on Valentine’s Day.

The franchisee sold the building two years ago and has been leasing from the new owner. But now the new owner has other plans for the site and did not renew the Pizza Shoppe lease.

“We are not a struggling store. We did very, very well during COVID. We did curbside and DoorDash,” said Dena Byington, who has been a Pizza Shoppe franchisee with her husband, Bill, since 2008. “We have looked at several locations. So right now we are in that search mode. We want to stay in this area if at all possible.”

They also own the Pizza Shoppe at 1805 S. Ridgeview Road, less than four miles miles away, and are directing Park Street customers to that location. Several of the 20 Park Street employees have transferred to the Ridgeview restaurant.

Fans of the location lamented the closing announcement on Facebook. Here’s a sampling:

▪ “No this is absolutely sad I remember being a little kid now in my middle 40”s and remember when this one was the only one in Olathe for a very long time you will.be missed at this location.”

▪ “Glad we met up for one last lunch! Memories!!!”

▪ “Noooooooo!!!!!”

Pizza Shoppe was founded in 1967, and currently the Kansas City-based company has 15 locations in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 10:38 AM.