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Village Inn Pizza reopens in Hickory

Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Diners enjoy the new Springs Road location of Village Inn Pizza.

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: May 21, 2009

HICKORY - It was an invitation-only affair at Village Inn Pizza's new location on Springs Road.

The restaurant opened its doors and served pizza in its new location Tuesday night — four months to the day after the U.S. 70 location was destroyed by arson.

The dinner service served as a test run for the new location.

The restaurant fed paying customers for the first time Wednesday, said Frank Miller, Village Inn's operations manager.

Business was brisk at lunch and VIP owner Becky Hite said, "We're just so excited to be open again. The support from the people of Hickory has been phenomenal."

VIP's U.S. 70 location was destroyed Jan. 19 and the N.C. 127 location burned Jan. 25. No one has been arrested for the crimes and Hickory Police Capt. Thurman Whisnant said the fires may have been set by different people and be unrelated.

Since Jan. 25, VIP regulars like Dwight and Margaret Deal have had to drive to the Conover or Bethlehem VIP locations to satisfy their cravings.

Deal said her nephew called her after spotting the crowded restaurant Tuesday night to let her know the restaurant was open for business.

The next day, Deal and her husband stopped in for lunch and were among the first customers to eat in the 2467 Springs Road, NE, location.

"It's about my favorite pizza place," Deal said.

Evie Lee's been a regular at the N.C. 127 location for years and hasn't had any Village Inn pizza since it burned down. On Wednesday, she was running errands and saw the new location was open. She immediately turned her car around and went in for lunch.

Village Inn President Elizabeth Miller is happy to have returned her brand to Hickory and only regrets it took this long.

She said construction is going smoothly at the N.C. 127 location and she plans to open that location in the fall.

A third VIP location is planned for Hickory, and Miller said she's been scouting in the Mountain View area for an appropriate site.