Fast food chain Pizza Hut plans to close 68 pizzerias and 11 delivery-only outlets in the UK, The Guardian reported.
The closures and 1,210 job cuts are due to financial difficulties at UK-based DC London Pie Limited, which owned Pizza Hut, and its transition to external management.
US-based Yum! Brands, which acquired the remaining shares of the chain, intends to keep 64 restaurants in the country.
The chain has existed on the Bulgarian market for only 16 years - since 1995, when the first restaurant was opened on Sofia's "Dondukov" Blvd. until 2011, when it closed all its locations and completely withdrew from our country. The reasons for the decision were a change in consumer behavior and increased competition in the pizzeria and delivery segment, as well as the presence of operational and logistical challenges related to adapting to the Bulgarian market.
Pizza Hut remains symbolically important, as one of the first entries of a major foreign food brand in Bulgaria, which opened the way for other international chains. Its experience in our country illuminates what it means to adapt a global brand to a local market — both successful ways of entry and the risks of inconsistencies with local conditions. For consumers in the 90s and early 2000s, Pizza Hut was part of the “American taste“ and the new style of “dining out” in Sofia.