The troubles continue for Pizza Hut as locations and leases are for sale
Do you remember when it felt like Pizza Hut was the king of pizza for national pizza companies? I certainly do and I grew up in an area where Pizza Hut was the easy choice for both eat-in and takeout orders.
Sadly, Pizza Hut has fallen on hard times over the last few years and things continue to snowball for the company. As reported by Delish, Pizza Hut’s largest franchisee NPC International has put 163 locations up for sale.
It was first reported back in August that Pizza Hut would be closing up to 300 locations nationwide. During this time, NPC International also filed for bankruptcy and closed roughly 300 Pizza Hut locations.
Now, the company is trying to rid themselves of the 163 Pizza Hut locations as part of their bankruptcy restructuring. The company which also owns 400 Wendy’s locations has no current plans to close any of those operations. This is a bad sign for Pizza Hut and the future of their operations.
The future of Pizza Hut looks bleak as the company has been trying to pivot on its business strategy over the last two to three years. They stopped focusing on locations I remember where the fast-casual dining atmosphere welcomed patrons to stay awhile and thrived in small towns similar to where I grew up in which there were never many pizza options.
Sadly back then, the Big New Yorker Pizza was the closest thing I was able to get to anything resembling an actual foldable pizza slice. They struggled to adapt to the times of preference for delivery, takeout, and online ordering. They did not think it would be important enough and they paid the price.
There is a wide variety of Pizza Hut locations available to be purchased
Now the company which gave us the Stuffed Crust Pizza, the P’zone, and many other innovative ideas feel dated and are watching locations shuttered and now up for sale.
The restaurants currently on the market range from delivery and takeout only locations at about 1,000 square feet all the way up to 6,000 square foot full-service restaurants. Some of these locations are still under lease but with favorable terms. Hopefully some of those used to feature the lunch buffets I always loved.
Hopefully, Pizza Hut can rebound and we can still enjoy their signature Pan Pizza for years to come. Unfortunately, nothing has seemed to help the company over the last couple of years. They are even the official pizza of the NFL but I’m pretty sure nobody has even noticed.