At least one business is undaunted by low Fort Hood troop levels’ impact on the local economy.
WiseGuys Chicago-style eatery is moving forward with plans to open up a new location at 1200 Willow Springs Road in Killeen.
“We’re still a city of 130,000 people,” co-owner Jerry Dugger said Wednesday, while sitting at a checkered-cloth-print table inside the Prohibition-era themed restaurant he opened with his brother-in-law, Bill Nychay, in February 2010. “We’re adding another store, and adding a substantial dessert section (in Harker Heights), with cheesecake, cannolis and gelato.”
The Killeen location, formerly a Quiznos sub shop, will open Aug. 1 and cater to Fort Hood soldiers. WiseGuys is packed with camo-clad Army personnel at lunchtime, even with troop levels at a two-year low through September, Nychay said, so it makes sense to open a location closer to post.
There are 25,000 soldiers deployed from Fort Hood, about half of the post’s population.