Maricopa’s Pizza Hut has weathered through tough economy

Businesses in Maricopa have come and gone, but a few have stuck around even through tough times.

Trevor Kyte, who owns the Pizza Hut located in Maricopa Marketplace, has spent his entire life learning from a father who ran businesses of his own for 65 years.

Along with the store in Maricopa, Kyte now owns and operates three Pizza Huts in the Valley.

“I like the community here and the employees are generally pretty good,” Kyte said of Maricopa.

One of Kyte’s employees, Raquel Hickey, has been with the Maricopa Pizza Hut since it opened in 2006 and is now the general manager.

“I couldn’t ask for a better boss,” Hickey said. “He is very understanding.”

Along with Hickey, there have been two other employees who have worked at the store since it opened, and half of the delivery drivers have been with them since they started delivery in 2007.

Assistant Manager Brady Root, who recently graduated from high school, has worked for the store for more than two years and does everything from cooking to serving to delivering food.

“It’s a great place to work overall,” Root said. “We are all pretty close here.”

What sets Pizza Hut apart from other pizza restaurants, Kyte said, is the quality of the product and that people know what to expect from them.

Root agreed. “We are proven to have quality superior to the others as well as a business format that works superior to the others. That’s why Pizza Hut has grown so large.”

A major focus for the business is customer service, and Kyte sends his employees to classes to learn how to execute proper customer service.