Maverick’s Pizza is Chey Deck’s investment in Ashland’s future

When Pizza Haus, the local pizza restaurant, announced it would be closing its doors in August 2024, Chey Deck found himself unable to shake a crazy idea.

Deck worked for Pizza Haus when he was 16 while attending Southern Boone High School. He eventually bought the building as part of his real estate investment portfolio in 2021, making him the landlord of his former boss.

For about six months after Pizza Haus closed, the building sat vacant on Broadway awaiting new occupants. After months of trying to talk himself out of it, Deck finally decided a new business would take the space — his own.

“The more I started looking at it, I realized that Ashland is actually a really great market right now,” Deck said.

Deck noted the growth in Ashland has been “meteoric” in the past couple of years.

According to the Southern Boone County Chamber of Commerce website, the city’s population “has more than doubled in the last 20 years from 1,275 persons in 1990 to approximately 3,700 persons in 2010, while still maintaining a quaint, small-town ambiance.”

According to 2023 Census data, the city of Ashland’s population has reached 4,811.

“The thought of doing it outweighs the idea of not doing it,” he told the Journal in January.

Maverick’s Pizza opened in May, and Deck said business is “going great.”

To pay homage to Deck’s memories of working there in the early 2000s, he had She Paints LLC owner Nicole Bartow create a Miami-vice, old-school interior with black walls, bright-colored accents and “radical vibes,” complete with a free arcade machine, claw machine and murals of flying pizzas.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “Ashland has been extremely supportive.”

From large orders for the football team to families cashing in on the day’s specials, Chey said he can’t thank his customers enough.

“We want Ashland to have their hometown pizza shop,” Chey said. “We’ll do everything we can to fill that void and make Ashland proud.”