As part of a nostalgia-driven push, 155 Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide are being outfitted with throwback décor drawn from the 1980s and 1990s, according to parent company Yum Brands $YUM — think checkered tablecloths, Tiffany-style lamps, salad bars, red cups, and arcade games.
Yum Brands cited robust consumer interest as the driver behind the expansion, noting in a release that existing retro locations have drawn visitors from well outside their immediate areas, with some customers making the trip across state lines.
The 155-location expansion builds on work already underway at Kansas-based franchisee Daland Corporation, which converted 38 of its 93 locations into retro-styled "Pizza Hut Classic" restaurants modeled after the chain's original dine-in format. Renovated Daland locations have been stocked with red vinyl booths, a returning salad bar, stained-glass pendant lighting, and plastic checkered tablecloths — hallmarks of the Pizza Hut dining room that had largely vanished in recent decades.
Tim Sparks, the president of Daland Corporation, has been leading the effort. "It's a good time to start having dinner together," Tim Sparks told Fox News. He said the reception to the renovations has been positive, with content from bloggers who visited the locations spreading across social media. "Everybody gets super excited," he told Fox News. "There's a lot of feel-good to it for sure."
The restored locations also display materials for Pizza Hut's "Book It" program, established in 1984, which rewards students with a free personal pan pizza for meeting a monthly reading target and remains active today. Pizza Hut said the program is returning for kids this summer.
The retro format — called "Pizza Hut Classic" — is designed to differentiate the chain from carryout and delivery-focused competitors by emphasizing a sit-down dining experience. The company framed the revival as an emotional proposition, saying in a release that for many visitors, what draws them in is less about the food itself and more about recapturing the feeling of sitting around a checkered table with the people they care about.
Pizza Hut has been the weakest-performing brand in the Yum Brands portfolio, with U.S. same-store sales falling 4% in the most recent quarter and operating profit down 14%. Yum Brands said earlier this year it would explore strategic options for the chain and has recorded about $37 million in charges tied to that review.
The 155 retro locations span more than 20 states, with the largest concentrations in Texas, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, and Georgia.