The U.S. pizza restaurants shakeout is expected to keep increasing in 2026 as big name restaurant chains keep shutting stores with the cost and consumer demand declining.
Yum! parent company Pizza Hut intends to close 250 of its poorly performing restaurants during the first half of the year in the country, which is one of the largest pizza brands. It was confirmed by Brands on February 4, during its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call.
The shutdowns are being experienced in the face of rising labour and food prices, high rent levels and stiff competition that directed several pizza chains to reorganize, reduce staff or even declare bankruptcy.
Pizza Hut sales slip in the U.S.
Yum! According to Brands, Pizza Hut experienced a 1 percent decrease in the global same-store sales on the 4 th quarter and the overall year of 2025. U.S. locations were the cause of the weakness.
Performance on an international level provided a ray of hope. Pizza Hut International recorded the increase of same store sales by 1 percent with a robust demand in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.
Chief Financial Officer Ranjith Roy indicated that the intended shutdowns are a part of the Hut Forward strategy by Pizza Hut, which is supposed to reset the long-term performance of the brand.
The contents of the Hut Forward plan.
The Hut Forward program is aimed at updating the business and enhancing the franchisee economics. The major ones involve specific restaurant shutdowns, new franchise contracts, technological improvements, and a single marketing assistance grant by Yum!. Brands.
According to Roy, who said the actions are aimed at making the system stronger and more consistent across the brand, the actions aim to enhance consistency.
There is still industry-wide contraction.
This relocation by Pizza Hut comes after several shut downs and bankruptcies in the industry within the last two years.
With about 500 outlets, Seattle-based Mod Pizza has gradually shrunk its position following the sale of its holdings to Elite Restaurant Group in 2024. The company has 448 locations that it enumerates on its webpage as of February 4.
In the year 2025, several smaller chains also declared bankruptcies such as the Restaurants and Backdraughts of Bertucci. Large operators of franchises were not spared as well, with Domino franchisee People First Pizza Inc. and Little Caesars franchisee Red Door Pizza LLC both filing Chapter 11 protection last year.
Nevertheless, Domino is the biggest pizza chain in the U.S with about 7,090 outlets whereas Pizza Hut has over 6,700 restaurants in this country.
Analysts believe that this consolidation and further shutdowns in the pizza industry will persist into 2026 as consumer spending remains strained and operating costs are still high.
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