Pizza Hut To Close 500 Dine-In Restaurants Across The Country
Yesterday came the news of Walgreens plans to close 200 of its US stores across the country and today, a report that Pizza Hut is next in making changes.
According to Food Business News, Pizza Hut will close 500 of its traditional dine-in restaurants and instead, focus on strengthening their carryout and delivery.
“This will ultimately strengthen the Pizza Hut business in the U.S. and set it up for a faster long-term growth," said chief operating office of Yum! Brands, David Gibbs.
Gibbs made mention of the upcoming plans after an earnings call.
Nearly 7,500 Pizza Hut locations in the US and 6,100 of those are traditional dine-in restaurants, while 1,350 are express units. Gibbs says locations are expected to drop to 7,000 over the next 24 months.
The Pizza Hut locations that will close are expected to reopen in a completely different style, focusing on express carry out and delivery.
"It’s hard to estimate how soon the timing of when a store will close and then when the replaced unit will open,”Gibbs said. “There will be gaps on some of those, but certainly, our goal is to try to minimize those gaps.”
Read the full story here.