Pizza Hut plans to shut down more than 500 dine-in locations across US

August 8, 2019 in News by RBN

Detroit Free PressPublished 8:50 p.m. ET Aug. 6, 2019

Say goodbye to your local dine-in Pizza Hut as the company looks to make a transition.

More than 500 U.S. dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants are likely to close due to competing delivery and carryout orders, according to Food Business News.

Report of the closings comes after an earnings call with David Gibbs, chief operating officer Yum! Brands.

“This will ultimately strengthen the Pizza Hut business in the U.S. and set it up for a faster long-term growth,” said Gibbs.

In total there are 7,496 Pizza Hut locations in the U.S., according to the Yum Brands website. Of that, 6,100 locations are traditional restaurants and 1,350 are express units said Gibbs.

“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.”

As Pizza Hut makes the transition from its iconic red roof dine-in restaurant to quick delivery, Gibbs also said that locations are expected to drop to 7,000 in the next two years.