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‘Ken-taco-hut,’ KFC-Taco Bell-Pizza Hut combo, on Victory Boulevard to close Tuesday

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The combination Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut on Victory Boulevard in Poquoson will quietly shut its doors Tuesday night after a decade and a half of operation.

“Our last day will be Tuesday night,” said Angela Gates, the restaurant’s general manager. The store will close its doors for the last time at 10 p.m.

The store, colloquially referred to by the portmanteau “Kentacohut,” opened for business in 2001 near the corner of Victory Boulevard and Wythe Creek Road. The restaurant offered calorie-dense fare typical of chain fast-food restaurants, including personal pan pizzas, “Mexican” food and the KFC Double Down — a sandwich “so meaty, there’s no room for the bun.”

Gates said there are no plans for any sorts of specials prior to the restaurants final day of business. Dave Callis, Poquoson’s director of economic development, said his department only learned the store was officially closing when the Daily Press called him for comment.

“We had not received official word that they were closing,” he said. “We’re very sorry to hear the news.”

Callis added the parcel of land the restaurant sits on isn’t owned by the city, and he also hasn’t heard of any plans to replace the store with some other business.

The restaurant was acquired by NPC International, a franchisee company, less than 10 years ago, said Vonnie Walbert, the company’s vice president of human resources. She said the location has long struggled to turn a profit, and the company eventually decided to nix it altogether.

“It’s been struggling for quite a while,” she said. “It’s not like it was ever fantastic and it just fell off.”

Walbert said NPC International is still committed to serving the market, and believes its other locations in the area are more than capable of meeting area customer’s needs. She added the company also extended employment offers to the restaurant’s roughly 20 employees at other properties in the area, including the management staff.

Walbert doesn’t know what’ll become of the property the company is leaving behind. She said they have no intentions to try reopening at that location.

Bell can be reached by phone at 757-746-6333.