Pizza Hut now an empire

  • Associated Press
  • Friday, May 30, 2008 8:37pm
  • Business

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dan and Frank Carney borrowed $600 from their mother 50 years ago and opened a small pizzeria in Kansas using second-hand equipment in what was once a bar.

The dream was to make enough pizzas to pay for college and earn a little money on the side for the family.

That humble enterprise with a humble name — Pizza Hut — is now the world’s largest pizza chain, with $10 billion in annual sales and more than 11,000 stores worldwide.

“We were able to build something from nothing,” Dan Carney said, recalling the hardscrabble early days and that first pizzeria in Wichita, Kan., which opened 50 years ago Saturday.

The chain known for its red-roofed restaurants is now updating its look, with plasma TVs, sports bars and local sports memorabilia. It’s also rolling out tubs of baked pasta and piles of fried chicken wings to go with its famous pizzas.

It is a tough time for pizza makers, who are strapped by rising costs for cheese and flour and by consumers who have been pinched by a slow economy.

Last year, Pizza Hut Inc. closed more U.S. restaurants than it opened, which it attributes to such factors as leases ending and outlets being sold.

Analysts say Pizza Hut was due for an overhaul, and that the new menu may help it through a rough time for the industry.

Analyst Larry Miller with RBC Capital Markets said “the iconic red roof store is dated.” “From a bigger picture, longer-term view, this is a brand that’s starting to differentiate itself from the competition in some really unique ways,” he said.

Pizza Hut went public in 1970 and was then acquired by PepsiCo Inc. in 1977. Frank Carney left the company three years later in a clash with the new owners. Pizza Hut’s corporate parent changed again in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off what is now Yum Brands Inc., a Louisville-based company that also owns Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food Restaurants.

“I’m proud every time I see Pizza Hut doing well because that’s part of me,” Frank Carney said.

Now 70, he is a competitor with a stake in 73 Papa John’s pizza stores in Wichita, Houston and Hawaii.

“Good competition keeps everybody on their toes; them and us,” Carney said.

Pizza Hut began an aggressive advertising campaign this spring to publicize the new menu. It says the effort paid off in the first month, when it sold 2 million pans of pasta, doubling its expectation, said Pizza Hut President Scott Bergren.

The company sells chicken wings in an agreement with WingStreet.

“We have changed our sales mix substantially,” Bergren said.

Bergren declined to say what kind of profit margins the company was seeing for pasta and chicken wings compared with pizza, saying, “these are all profitable products.” Ingredient costs like wheat, cheese and chicken have soared in the past year.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

The livery on a Boeing plane. (Christopher Pike / Bloomberg)
Former Lockheed Martin CFO joins Boeing as top financial officer

Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer is being replaced by a former CFO at… Continue reading

Izaac Escalante-Alvarez unpacks a new milling machine at the new Boeing machinists union’s apprentice training center on Friday, June 6, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Boeing Machinists union training center opens in Everett

The new center aims to give workers an inside track at Boeing jobs.

Some SnoCo stores see shortages after cyberattack on grocery supplier

Some stores, such as Whole Foods and US Foods CHEF’STORE, informed customers that some items may be temporarily unavailable.

People take photos and videos as the first Frontier Arlines flight arrives at Paine Field Airport under a water cannon salute on Monday, June 2, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Water cannons salute Frontier on its first day at Paine Field

Frontier Airlines joins Alaska Airlines in offering service Snohomish County passengers.

Amit B. Singh, president of Edmonds Community College. 201008
Edmonds College and schools continue diversity programs

Educational diversity programs are alive and well in Snohomish County.

A standard jet fuel, left, burns with extensive smoke output while a 50 percent SAF drop-in jet fuel, right, puts off less smoke during a demonstration of the difference in fuel emissions on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sustainable aviation fuel center gets funding boost

A planned research and development center focused on sustainable aviation… Continue reading

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.