Pizza Hut to Close<br />500 Dine-in Locations.<br />Yum! Brands president David W. Gibbs made<br />the announcement during an earnings call to<br />discuss second-quarter results on August 1.<br />According to Gibbs, the chain will focus<br />on its delivery and carryout options.<br />We are leaning in to accelerate the transition of<br />our Pizza Hut U.S. asset base to truly modern<br />delivery/carryout assets…This will ultimately<br />strengthen the Pizza Hut business in the U.S.<br />and set it up for a faster long-term growth, David W. Gibbs, via ‘Food Business News’.<br />In the United States, there are approximately<br />6,100 dine-in restaurants and 1,350 express units. .<br />The number of total U.S. stores is expected<br />to drop to as low as 7,000 in the next 24 months.<br />“Underperforming” dine-ins with “lower volume”<br />are the most likely to face closure and later be<br />restructured to fit the delivery/carryout model.<br />It’s hard to estimate how soon the timing<br />of when a store will close and then when<br />the replaced unit will open…There will be<br />gaps on some of those, but certainly, our<br />goal is to try to minimize those gaps, David W. Gibbs, via ‘Food Business News’.
