Pizza Ranch breaks ground in Mt. Pleasant

A new Pizza Ranch restaurant is moving to Mt. Pleasant and construction crews have started moving dirt and are preparing to pour the foundation.

The new eatery will be built along Grand Avenue, in the vacant lot between Dollar General and Peebles.

Franchise owner John Mohr said that if weather cooperates this winter, the new store would be opened around late March 2008.

"We're looking forward to opening the door in Mt. Pleasant," Mohr told the MP News. Mohr is especially busy right now because he is building a new location in Mt. Pleasant and beginning to rebuild his franchise store in Sigourney, which burned down two weeks ago. He's looking forward to opening the two stores at about the same time.

Mohr's name should be familiar with area residents. He is the owner of the former Pizza Ranch in Wayland, until it was closed three years ago. He also owns the Pizza Ranch in Washington.

Mohr said that the Mt. Pleasant site would be different than others in the region because it is a new building. The stores in Fairfield, Washington, Muscatine and Iowa City, he said, were all remodeled buildings.

"At this point in my career, I wanted to build new," he said, then added that a new structure costs more, but one gets more control over the overall design."

The new store will be 4,400 square feet. It is a prototype building design set by the corporate office for new structures.

Pizza Ranch is an Iowa-based company that started 26 years ago, with 140 stores.

"We are excited to be in Mt. Pleasant," Mohr reiterated. "We've had a lot of help in locating the property. We think that because Mt. Pleasant is a growing community there is good future business that will make it worth the extra expense [of a new building]."

-by Larry Kershner