With all the nation's love for pizza, the competition is fiercer than ever. Pizza chains
are fighting for slices of the pie, and many are closing stores left and right. These pizzerias
might be in your town today, but there's no guarantee they'll still be there tomorrow.
In terms of American pizza chains, there's not many that have had bigger success than
Pizza Hut. What started in 1958 as a small pizza shop named "Pizza Hut" only because
the sign could fit just eight letters grew to a global brand.
Not all is well with Pizza Hut, though, and the brand known for their distinctively shaped
buildings is in trouble. In August 2019, Nation's Restaurant News reported that Pizza Hut was
planning to shut down nearly 500 locations. Even with around 7,000 locations in the United
States alone, shuttering 500 stores is no small pepperoni.
As for the reason that your local Pizza Hut might soon be locking its doors, it's all
about how people are getting their pizza. With the emergence of online ordering and
delivery services like Uber Eats, not as many people are choosing to eat their pizza inside
a sit-down pizza place like Pizza Hut. There's a bit of good news: the company plans t o
convert some of those old dine-in locations to delivery/takeout units, so you'll probably
still be able to order a pizza from Pizza Hut, you'll just have to eat it someplace
else.
“Well that's where I see things just a little bit differently. Contract or no, I will not
bow to any sponsor."
It's rough for all-you-can-eat buffets these days, and Cicis is struggling just like so
many other buffets across the US.
The pizza chain has been around since the mid-1980s and offers customers unlimited access
to their buffet for one low price, and while that affordability certainly helps out families
on a budget, it hasn't necessarily been able to keep the chain from losing stores.
In 2018, New York saw all of its Cicis locations close. The chain's corporate office didn't
say why it shuttered stores in the Empire State, but it's suspected that the increase
in the minimum wage was too much for Cicis to handle. Grand Blanc, Michigan also lost
its Cicis in November 2018, and Springfield, Missouri lost its store after an embezzlement
investigation.
One possible reason for Cicis struggles may simply be that customers want more than a
product that's cheap. According to Restaurant Business, quick-service pizza chains like
Cicis ranked in the bottom 10 when it came to guest satisfaction and Cicis Pizza has
seen its consumer satisfaction decrease by 6.7 points.
While we're on the subject about the hard times of buffet pizza chains, let's talk about
one that's got a big mess on its hands. If you grew up in Texas or in the Southern U.S.,
there's a good chance you attended more than one birthday party at Mr. Gatti's Pizza. The
chain has been a Texas pizza staple since the 1960s and has seen better days.
In September of 2018, 13 of Mr. Gatti's stores in its home city of Austin, Texas were sold
to another franchise group. That might not have been earth-shaking news, but just a few
months later in January 2019, the owner of the pizza chain, Sovrano LLC, filed for bankruptcy.
According to the court filing, the company, quote, "failed to maximize revenues due in
part to underperforming stores at several locations." As for the folks of the franchise
group who bought those 13 Austin-area Mr. Gatti's locations, they later sued and argued
they were swindled into buying a struggling business.
With news like that, it's really no surprise locations in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and
Boonville, Indiana shut their doors around the same time. Your local Mr. Gatti's might
be safe today, but with the turmoil the company is going through, it could be gone any day.
If you're a parent who is struck with dread every time your child gets an invitation to
a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, we have some good news. You may not have to go
anymore. That's right, the pizza chain designed for kids isn't quite as popular as it once
was.
The company has struggled over the last several years, and found itself in competition with
the advancements of digital gaming and the overall decline of chain restaurants. Even
trampoline parks are giving ol' Chuck E. Cheese's a run for its money. As for the restaurants
themselves, well, they've shut their doors because of everything from rodent infestations
to brawls. Yes, those violent altercations between customers that occasionally make the
media rounds can result in store closures. Way to ruin kids' fun, there, grown-ups.
While those may have been incidents affecting only a few particular stores, there's also
that viral internet rumor started to spread, alleging that the chain recycled its pizza.
Chuck E. Cheese's said the idea that they recycled their pizza was, quote, "unequivocally
false," but nonetheless, that sort of publicity is never good for a brand's image.
When a deal is a little too good, it can come back to haunt a brand. Take Little Caesars
five dollar Hot-N-Ready pizza. It's a great deal for customers, but for franchise owners,
maybe not so much.
Those $5 pizzas were not a hit with businessman Alan Knox, who closed all of his 21 Kansas
City locations in 2018, because he didn't want to play along with the Little Caesars
Hot-N-Ready deal. Knox argued that he couldn't make a profit at that price point. Kansas
City did later see two Little Caesars open in 2019 — they just weren't owned by Alan
Knox.
It's not just the Kansas City area that has seen its Little Caesars locations vanish recently.
Locations in Clemson, South Carolina, Victoria, Texas, and Spokane, Washington have also closed
their doors in the last year. While no reason for the Clemson or Victoria closures was given,
the Spokane Little Caesars was a victim of being located inside a Kmart.
Your local Little Caesars may be safe for now, but if the company isn't careful, the
lucrative $5 Hot-N-Ready deal could seal its fate. Todd Messer, a spokesperson for the
Independent Organization of Little Caesar Franchisees, put it this way:
"The $5 price point … has become an unprofitable business model for many and is fast becoming
unprofitable for many more."
Papa's in trouble, people. In November 2018, the chain announced that they would be closing
51 locations, as sales had dipped almost 10 percent in the United States and three percent
internationally. As for the reason behind Papa John's troubles, well, it's been pretty
well-documented in the mainstream media that the chain's founder, John Schnatter, got himself
and the brand in trouble for using a racial slur.
Papa John's worked to improve its image by replacing its CEO and launching a "voices
of Papa John's" campaign, but that only helped so much. Papa John's current CEO, Steve Ritchie,
hasn't been shy about blaming Papa John's struggles on, quote, "the negative impact
of media coverage." There's been some serious damage done: the company lost $13 million
in 2018 from the fallout.
“That's my box.”
“This pie was found at a crime scene.”
“My pizza never hurt nobody.”
"Come again, sir?"
A year later and Papa John's was still struggling to rebuild its brand back to what it once
was. The company hasn't closed as many stores in 2019 as it did in 2018, but they're still
closing. According to Restaurant Business, franchise operators are struggling to compete
with other pizzerias in a crowded marketplace, and are therefore they're still facing some
major difficulties.
For mall shoppers looking for a meal that's a little more upscale than something like
Sbarro, California Pizza Kitchen has been the answer since its inception in 1985. Like
many other casual-dining chain restaurants, the chain is feeling the crunch of dropping
sales as consumers look for other ways to spend their dining-out dollars. As a result,
California Pizza Kitchen has seen its sales drop by 1.6 percent and it seems to be losing
stores in its restaurant fleet.
In the summer of 2019, the chain closed California Pizza Kitchen locations in popular dining
areas near Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Arlington Heights, Illinois, and the only two locations
it had in Washington state. The company remained mum on the reasons behind the closures, but
it doesn't take a detective to uncover why the chain is closing up shop in some areas.
The restaurants typically operate in areas with very high rents and, as in the case of
its shuttered Manhattan location, sales just weren't covering the cost of business.
In August 2019, the chain announced that it would be trying out take-and-bake as a way
to boost its sales. It's probably still too early to tell if this strategy will be enough
to keep the doors open at your local California Pizza Kitchen, so it might be a good idea
to enjoy that BBQ chicken pizza while you still can.
Just a note to any future pizzapreneurs — maybe avoid having "papa" in your name. Papa John's
isn't the only papa having trouble, as Papa Murphy's is also struggling to keep their
doors open.
Papa Murphy's is unlike other big pizzeria's because patrons only have the option of take-and-bake.
While this approach might be good for saving costs on things like labor and store size,
it wasn't enough to keep them from closing 97 restaurants in 2018.
It's never a good thing when a company has 13 straight quarters of sales declines. Papa
Murphy's is also struggling to handle competition from other pizza chains, which results in
units closing.
In an age of online ordering, Papa Murphy's only jumped on keeping up with the competition
through an online ordering app in the fall of 2018. That's a little late to the party
and in a time when pizza-lovers want convenience, who wants to order then bake their pizza?
A make-your-own-pizza restaurant? A novel idea, sure, but it's a concept that's struggled.
"You remember that idea I had a few years ago, about the pizza place where you make
your own pizza?”
“Yeah.”
“What was that again?”
“It’s a pizza place where you make your own pie!"
Since Blaze Pizza's inception in 2011, it's climbed to nearly 400 locations and even attracted
the attention of NBA superstar LeBron James. But it's seen some disappointing setbacks
in that time, too.
Two Blaze Pizza locations endorsed by James in Fort Lauderdale, Florida were shut down
in 2018 because live flies and dead roaches were found in the food preparation area. As
gross as that may be, South Florida isn't the only part of the country that has recently
seen its Blaze Pizza locations close up shop.
According to The Gazette, the chain closed both of its Colorado locations after just
a year in business. While the company didn't give any specific reason for why it packed
up and left Colorado, the competitive Colorado restaurant market was likely a factor.
Pizza fans west of the Mississippi may not be as familiar with the Marco's Pizza brand
as those in the Eastern part of the United States, but the pizzeria has been around for
40 years. As QSR Magazine notes, it's only in the last 15 years or so that the chain
has really ballooned and gone from 126 stores to over 900.
Still, there are quite a few examples of the chain biting the dust with its rapid expansion.
In August 2018, the pizzeria closed up all of its locations in New York state as well
two locations in Illinois. No reason for any of the closures was given at the time, but
opening up shop only to leave town in a hurry without any sort of indication why seems to
be protocol for this pizzeria. In April 2019, it was the same story in Salem, Ohio when
a store closed its doors unexpectedly. According to the Morning Journal, calls were made to
the company's corporate offices in Toledo, but questions as to why the pizzeria closed
went unanswered.
Maybe a Marco's Pizza will open up in your town, just don't expect any sort of Dear John
letter when they decide to leave.
Perhaps you've heard of Pizza Inn. They've been around for over 60 years, and are continuing
to do well today. What you may not know is that their much newer sister company, Pie
Five Pizza, is going through some rough times.
In recent years, Pie Five Pizza has gone from being somewhat of a pioneer in the quick service
pizza market to a company that is witnessing its sales decline and stores close up. From
2015 to 2018, Pie Five Pizza saw its sales drop a staggering 34 percent and the number
of its stores shrink.
Things haven't improved much for the company as of late, either. By February of 2019, Pie
Five was down from around 100 locations to just 65. The company has tried to shift gears
from being primarily a dine-in business to one that's focused on takeout, delivery, and
drive-thru, but how well that's working is debatable.
Sales at the chain hadn't improved by May of 2019 and store closures in Texas, Virginia,
and Missouri all reflected that.
Who knows? At this rate, soon there may be nowhere left to get pizza at all!
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Mashed videos about your favorite
stuff are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.