TL;DR
Pizza Hut plans to close hundreds of underperforming stores in favor of modern express stores devoted to delivery and carryout. The brand aims to restructure its dine-in restaurants and strengthen its US business for faster long-term growth.
Domestic Pizza Hut stores are about to go under a major overhaul in the next two years, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. In 2018, Pizza Hut ended the fiscal year with 7,482 stores. The count could go as low as 7,000 as the brand restructures their dine-in restaurants in favor of express stores devoted to delivery and carryout.
David W. Gibbs, president and chief operating and financial officer of Pizza Hut said in a statement, “We are leaning in to accelerate the transition of our Pizza Hut U.S. asset base to truly modern delivery carryout assets. This will ultimately strengthen the Pizza Hut business in the U.S. and set it up for faster long-term growth.”
The brand intends to continue with franchisees who are “capable, well-capitalized, committed to the brand, and have a growth mind-set,” according to Yum CEO Greg Creed.
In this story
This story was originally published in 1851 Franchise on August 2, 2019. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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