Major Chain’s Store Closure Rate Has Been Worse Than Expected in 2026

Pizza Hut has closed more stores than it originally projected earlier this year, with two months still to go in 2026.

Yum! Brands officially handed over the struggling chain to LongRange Capital on September 1 for $1.5 billion. Prior to that, Yum! had said this past March that it would close about 250 underperforming stores during the first half of 2026.

An amended franchise disclosure document (FDD) now shows that Pizza Hut had closed 275 locations, all of them franchised, as of August 18. That included 148 shuttered stores since the initial FDD was released in March.

It remains to be seen whether the brand’s cleanup is over or how many additional stores have been shuttered since August 18.

California, Florida, Illinois, Georgia and Texas are reportedly among the states seeing the most Pizza Hut closures.

The FDD was amended on October 8 following LongRange Capital’s acquisition. It projects only 33 U.S. franchise openings this year.

Prior to LongRange Capital’s acquisition of Pizza Hut, Yum! Brands CFO Ranjith Roy told investors that the store closures were part of the “Hut Forward” strategy, which would include “vibrant marketing, modernization of technology, and franchise agreements.”

Roy added that the closures represent “a very small portion of the 20,000-unit estate that Pizza Hut has globally. And it is the right answer for the brand as we move through the strategic review.”