Papa John's recently announced it plans to close 300 of its restaurants by the end of next year. Hopefully, you have enough tubs of garlic sauce to get you through what looks to be a rough patch for the popular pizza chain.
Videos by Wide Open Country
As reported by CBS News, Ravi Thanawala, the company's Chief Financial Officer, said in an earnings call that the locations to be closed are "not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement."
He said that the other locations being shuttered are where the chain can "effectively transfer sales" to another nearby store.
That's Not All for Papa John's
Thanawala shared that the plan is to close 200 locations by the end of 2026. The remainder will be closed by 2027. These stores are roughly 5% of Papa John's 6,000 locations across around 50 countries and territories worldwide.
This represents a plan for the popular pizza chain to boost its sales in the United States. Earlier this month, Papa John's reported 2025 revenue of $2.1 billion, flat compared to the previous year. Profits are shrinking as well, and the company's stock has fallen 31% over the last year.
The restaurants that the chain plans to close have not been announced.
Thanawala also announced yesterday that Papa John's corporate workforce of 104,000 employees has been reduced by 7%. He did not indicate if these layoffs had already happened or were planned.
It's Been a Rough Decade for Papa John's
Back in 2018, Papa John's founder John Schnatter was asked to resign after using a racial slur during a media training session.
He admitted it happened, claiming he only used it to describe how another fast-food chain founder talked. Schnatter claimed that he would never use that word.
He then blamed the chain's slow sales on the controversy surrounding National Football League (NFL) players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police misconduct and societal inequality.
The company then removed Schnatter's image from all its printed marketing materials and commercials. It also took away his office space at the company's Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters.
Schnatter then sued the company, claiming that its board treated him in an "unexplained and heavy-handed way." It was settled the next year.
