Tornado-Destroyed Portage Pizza Hut Reopens, Reuniting Staff Two Years Later
Mike Cory and his Portage crew were back on the line Friday, cutting pizzas in a rebuilt store two years after an EF2 tornado sent them pulling each other from the wreckage.
The Pizza Hut on W. Centre Avenue in Portage, Michigan reopened Friday, nearly two years after an EF2 tornado leveled the building and scattered its crew across nearby locations.
General Manager Mike Cory was back on the line April 3, cutting and boxing pizzas alongside the team that had waited through the long rebuild. "They're just happy to be back," Cory said. "We're all a team."
The path back started with chaos. When the 2024 tornado struck, Cory described receiving messages that opened with "We're hit," followed by footage of staff pulling themselves out of wreckage. That day set off a recovery measured in months, not weeks.
While the franchise ownership handled the rebuild financially, Cory and his managers were embedded in the process from the start. "I got all my management team. We're putting the store together. We're unpacking boxes. We're setting up shelves, you know. We've all helped build this from the ground up. I've seen this location when it was just a blueprint," he said. That involvement extended to the new layout, which was redesigned to improve workflow efficiency and reduce service times.
During the rebuild, staff were split across area locations. The displacement stretched schedules and added pressure to the stores absorbing the extra labor and customer volume. The April 3 reopening brought that period to an end, reuniting the crew on W. Centre Avenue and restoring a full shift structure at the original address.
Drivers covering the Portage area should expect a surge in demand in the coming weeks as the neighborhood rediscovers the location. The rebuilt store may also bring delivery zone and navigation changes, so confirming those details with management before the first run is worth the extra minute.
The Portage rebuild illustrates something Pizza Hut workers in other markets understand from experience: where franchise owners commit capital to rebuilding, shifts return and teams reassemble. Where they don't, the roster stays scattered. Cory's crew got the better outcome.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
