"Pizza Hut Closing Hundreds of Stores" Topic

It's a dog eat dog world out there, and I suspect the virus isn't helping much, nor are newer independent and chain stores either, challenging the former top pizza chain in the nation.

It's been announced that due to a franchisee going bankrupt, Pizza Hut will be closing about 300 stores, but this older article from last year mentions 500, so it looks like the closures have been in the works for some time. Apparently the virus didn't cause all their problems.

link

I know the local franchisee rarely honors the ad prices shown on TV, so I suspect that might be part of customer frustration with their stores.

On the plus side, it looks like there will still be about 6,000 – 7,000 stores still open, to meet some needs, but that is a pretty big hit to those working for them. Store presence in my area is few and far between, so it will be interesting to see if any of those close.

Thankfully, there are other, far better places to get pizza locally, that make a better pie, but there are few in the low-budget price niche that can match Pizza Hut's taste at their price points.

What does this have to do with wargaming you ask?

Well, this is the Utter Drivel board, and, since wargaming and pizza go hand-in-hand, or slice-in-mouth, so to speak, I think it's obvious.

Just make sure to wash your hands well with soap and water, or wetnaps, before handling the nicely painted miniatures and models, with yer greasy paws.

NOOOOOOOOOO, not the pizzas!

In college we use to go to a local Pizza joint and order a pitcher of beer with a pizza and play Yaquinto's Swashbuckler while waiting for the food to show up.

They will not be missed.

Yes, the effects of the virus are going exactly as planned.

I think the last time i had Pizza Hut was on a road trip in what? 1993? 94?

I will miss the local one, which appears to have died some weeks back. But since there's an independent pizzaria close to my opponent's home, it will have no impact on my gaming.

I was about to say not serving slices at wargame conventions would be a game-changer, but even with the closures, Pizza Hut is hanging on better than miniatures conventions.

Ain't been to a P Hut for decades, literally. Service
was always sooooo poor and of course the product also.

We do 'D……s' for pizza…

My small town has a long standing tavern that prides itself on making great pizza. I love their pizza and order that. I haven't been to a Pizza Hut in over a decade.

My local Pizza Hut closed a few years ago, despite being next door to campus.

The local Papa Johns also closed.

It's a fierce market for pizza.

I've still got a fair number of them in my area, but they seem to be transitioning to carry out and delivery. They run sales all of the time. I like their pizza.

The article also said Wendy's was filing and would close a lot of stores. All about not wanting to pay legal debt that they incurred. The real loser are the small manufacturers who sold them product.

Pizza Hut in our area, three in the county closed over six months ago.

Corporate scams to try to qualify for COVID money.

Yes, that must surely be a sign of the End Times ! 😱😨😲

Around here, there is no shortage of pizza places and Italian eateries, etc. Pizza Huts are few and not that highly thought of compared to many others. 🍕🍕🍕🍕🤩

I stopped eating Pizza Hut pizza when they put a ring of cheese inside the periphery of the crust.

When you throw the dice for BMI scoring then add +3 for cheese, no saving throw allowed.

A recently observed addition to the pub beer-garden over this side of the pond is "Crust and Craft" (or "Craft and Crust"). This outfit will bring their portable pizza oven and turn the beer-garden into a pizza-garden – excellent for the CV-19 social distancing.

In my neck of the woods you can also have mobile hog-roast. Todmorden Travelling Pig. £4.00 GBP gets you a bap filled with roast pork, apple sauce, and crackling.

I read that a lot of pizza shops are struggling with the rising costs of cheese and pepperoni because of the shortages. I assume Pizza Hut is the same as Little Caesars and such where they have dedicated manufactures and suppliers. Too much competition and people are staying with their local shops.

I know I've been keeping my local shop in business since the start of the COVID lockdown.

I don't know about where you guys live, but all the restaurants around my area have increased prices significantly and a lot of places that used to not charge for delivery now routinely charge. Where I am at, we're still at 25% of capacity for restaurants, so just to stay alive they have to raise rates dramatically compared to just six months ago. Even with that, lots of places are closing as they can't make a go of it.

When I was a kid, Pizza Hit was a chain, but it was also a full menu sit down restaurant. You could get full on pasta dishes that were really good and the pizza was pretty good. Then they became a cut price pizza delivery place with a pizza only buffet. Then they became just a cut price pizza delivery place with no sit down service. The quality went way down as the franchise grew and grew. That's a surprise to probably no one. Once a restaurant grows to a certain size, quality becomes 'how can we lower costs to increase profits?' Once that starts, the downward spiral begins.

Actually, the slow decline of Long John Silver's and (in the Midwest) Penguin Point hit me harder. Haven't seen a Mostly Muffins in years, either.

The "keep the shop alive" effort here went into sustaining Hyde Brothers Used & Rare Books, which seems to have come through nicely.

I'm a bit nostalgic about Pizza Hut, since that's the first place I had pizza I actually liked. Almost all the local Pizza Huts switched to take out only years ago.

Grelber

Always like Pizza Hut pizza, especially their 'all you can eat' lunch. Actually been pining for a bit of the ol' buttery crust.

Steve

I love the local Round Table franchise. They make superb pies and use real, quality ingredients. Cost for many of their large pizzas is $25 USD – $30 USD each though, which is rather expensive, though they do have the occasional deal for $20 USD, which helps.

Apparently, they've had issues with financial stability too, due to the rising costs of ingredients, and hefty, mandated minimum wage here – almost $15 USD/Hr. now.

They make a superb sauce with thinned tomato paste, which is delicious.

I miss Pizza Hut's thin crust pies. Love that cracker crunch, but you can almost starve eating those.

All of the PHs here are takeout/delivery only. No dine in service.

Domino's, Little Caesar's, Papa John's, etc., etc., all suck. Not sure why they can't figure out how to make a decent crust, and/or pie.

I've made them at home myself, don't have access to the high-end quality products they do, and I still make better pizzas tham ALL of them, save for RT, and my favorite Italian Restaurant chain's pies.

For a few years now, I've been getting hot pizza slices from Whole Foods in all their California foodie trendiness. They're good, though, and reasonably priced (2 for $7 USD).

The only other pizza I've been eating is frozen, either Freschetta rising crust (my wife's favorite) or Newman's Own thin crust (my favorite).

I had some really good Pizza Hut pizza in Paris about 10 years ago, along with super-traditional crappy French service. Turkish pizza in northern Europe is usually pretty good.

Here in NZ you can get a pizza from Dominoes for $NZD5.00. That is about $2.50 USD in Seppo money. You cannot make them yourself for that price. However, apart from the rarest of occasions we do – my son makes the best pizza dough and awesome pizza.

A bit sad to hear but not unexpected. I worked for Pizza Hut Delivery and Dominoes in college back in the '80s. The pizza was relatively cheap and the quality was always top-notch. Actually, I had my first real 'date' after I got my driver's license at a Pizza Hut.

In our little slice of Poland, you can get pizza from a ton of little restaurants. The closest Pizza Hut is in Rybnik, about 20 minutes away. I don't even know if it survived the 'Rona-pocalypse', since most of our shopping has gone to the Net. Agreed with other posters, once a restaurant chain grows too big, quality slips, then, it's just a matter of time.

The one by my office closed about 9 months ago. There was never anyone inside. Too bad, because I missed the lunch pizza buffet and salad bar specials

SE Pennsylvania you can walk between pizza places, they won't be missed.

Why couldn't it be Dominoes? Pieces of cardboard covered with sauce and cheese. May just as well eat the box, probably taste better.

I agree with you whole heartedly on that point, von Schwartz.

The Pizza Hutt pizzas here seem to be getting smaller and smaller. I think people are starting to wise up and turning towards the smaller local stores.

My recollection was that Pizza Hut had a couple problems of the years, including false advertising, including a rather bogus all you can eat. And I do remember the help being completely worthless.

Thankfully,LaRosa's has held their own in the Cincinnati area and surrounding areas.

In my less than humble opinion, Pizza Hut is the worst of the chain pizzas by a long shot. No other pizza has earned the moniker Hut Butt. :)