Papa Johns Will Close 300 Stores
From the chain that brought you scraping off the pizza toppings into a “Papa Bowl” comes…closing down a lot of restaurants. Papa Johns said yesterday that it missed earning estimates last quarter and now will shutter 300 underperforming locations, as it tries to turn things around and deal with US consumers’ shrinking appetite for pizza.
Papa Johns said same-store sales fell 5.4% in Q4, worse than the 4.3% analysts expected. The chain also revealed that it expects its 2026 comparable sales to fall 2%, instead of Wall Street’s predicted 0.5% increase:
- CEO Todd Penegor blamed the troubles on weak demand for pies. Sales growth for pizza chains in the US has stayed flat since 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Rival chain Pizza Hut has also been burned, announcing the closure of 250 locations this year. Its owner, Yum! Brands, is actively exploring a sale of the brand.
Not everyone’s struggling. Domino’s crushed its last quarter, crediting its 3.7% jump in same-store sales to its value deals attracting more lower-income consumers. CEO Russell Weiner told CNBC that the chain wants to double its market share.—MM
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