Pizza Hut to focus on carry out & delivery with plans to close hundreds of US locations

Louisville-based company Pizza Hut will close hundreds of its underperforming locations temporarily in the US.

David Gibbs, CFO and COO, Pizza Hut, said, “The number of Pizza Hut stores in the US could drop to as low as 7,000, a loss of nearly 500 restaurants, as the brand shifts its focus from traditional dine-in restaurants to delivery-focused locations.”

“At Pizza Hut, we are leaning in to accelerate the transition of our Pizza Hut U.S. asset base to truly modern delivery and carry-out assets. This will ultimately strengthen the Pizza Hut business in the US and set it up for faster long-term growth,” he added.

Pizza Hut’s some of the US locations will be re-franchised, remodeled or rebuilt at a better location. At present, about 6,100 Pizza Hut stores are dine-in restaurants, with less than a fourth of the brand’s locations being “express” units.

“We have a lot of stores that were built in the right spot 30 or 40 years ago in a trade area, but that’s not the right spot today to have a modern delivery asset,” Gibbs stated.