Popular Pizza Chain Announces 250 Store Closures

One of the oldest pizza brands in the business is closing the doors to 250 of its locations. The pizza chain’s recent quarterly earnings call announced that underperforming stores will close.

Three of the Oldest Pizza Chains in America

There are three American pizza chains that are older than all the rest. The first is Shakey's Pizza Parlor that is the oldest chain that was founded in 1954 in Sacramento, California, by Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and Ed Plummer.

At one point Shakey's had over 500 locations, but over time they dwindled down to around 45 locations that are mainly in California.

Pizza Hut was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The Carney's had six more locations by 1959. The chain currently operates nearly 20,000 locations worldwide.

Domino's history began in 1960 with just one location but it was under the original name of DomiNick's. Two brothers purchased the pizza joint for $500 and renamed it Domino's Pizza 5 years later. The pizza giant has grown to over 20,500 locations worldwide.

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One of these pizza chains is about to close 250 of its U.S. locations.

Pizza Lovers Beware: 250 Chain Locations Shutting Down

According to CNN, Pizza Hut has plans to close 250 underperforming locations in the United States within the first six months of 2026. The pizza chain is owned by Yum! Brands, which also owns Taco Bell and KFC.

The 250 Pizza Hut locations slated to close represent roughly 3% of the chain’s U.S. footprint. While there are approximately 130 Pizza Hut restaurants in Michigan, it is not yet known how many of those locations will be impacted.

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Apparently, a few pizza brands have out pizza'd the Hut.