Papa John's International history

By March 1985, the two partners, along with a few helpers, were making 3,000 to 4,000 pizzas a week.

In January 1986 the company was incorporated and able to stand on its own.

Behind the focused strength of this strategy, Papa John's generated revenues of $500,000 in its first year and opened two more restaurants in the "Kentuckiana" region, including the first franchised outlet. (The company headquarters were shifted to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1989.)

Gatti's and Pizza Hut, Holland, who took over as company president in 1990, brought more than a decade of experience in the pizza business to Papa John's.

In June 1993, Papa John's went public with an initial offering of 1.55 million shares at $13 a share.

Just as Papa John's was nearing the 500-store milestone in mid-1994, it was named by Business Week as the nation's best-run small business, based on three-year results in sales growth, earnings growth, and return on invested capital.

Papiernik, Richard L., "Papa John's 'Simple' Policy Pays Off: Profits up 77%," Nation's Restaurant News, March 6, 1995.

Another milestone was reached in August 1996 when the 1,000th Papa John's opened for business.

A year later it had 500 stores, and by 1997 it had opened 1,500 stores.

By early 1998 the Papa John's system included nine commissaries/distribution centers supporting more than 1,500 units.

In late 1999 a jury found both companies guilty, and in January of the following year a federal district judge ruled that Papa John's had to stop using the "Better Ingredients.

Eagles, Cynthia, "Papa John's Nears 3,000-Store Milestone," Business First of Louisville, November 26, 2001.

On the overseas front, Papa John's entered China in 2003, its 14th international market, and it also converted 60 Perfect Pizza restaurants in the United Kingdom to the Papa John's format, reducing the Perfect Pizza chain to 135 locations.

With sales for 2005 expected to remain stagnant or increase no more than 2 percent, Papa John's kept its expansion plans in check, anticipating opening 80 to 100 domestic units while closing a similar number.

Travis left to become CEO of Dunkin’ Brands in 2008, and Schnatter returned to power.

In 2009, Schnatter bought the Camaro back after offering a reward of $250,000 for the car.

Schnatter tapped a former executive from Anthem insurance, Jude Thompson, to help run Papa John’s as co-CEO in April 2010.

Thompson departed in 2011, after just 12 months as co-CEO. Schnatter tapped a senior vice president, Tony Thompson (no relation to Jude), to be chief operating officer and then president, which multiple sources say ushered in a brief cultural respite.

May, 2012: It was in 2012 that Schnatter began getting involved in politics, during the reelection campaign for President Barack Obama.

When a Louisville publication named him to its Forty Under 40 list in 2013, Ritchie was asked to name his role model. “John Schnatter,” he answered.

That includes international president Tim O’Hern, a close friend of Schnatter’s from Jeffersonville High School, as well as current CEO Steve Ritchie, who worked directly for Schnatter for three years and has run daily operations since 2014. “John got Steve to where he is.

In 2016, Papa John’s was able to become the third-largest take-out and pizza delivery pizza chain in the United States

November, 2017: Schnatter’s woes really went into overdrive in 2017 when he ill-advisedly weighed in on the the controversy of NFL players who were peacefully protesting by taking a knee during the national anthem.

February, 2018: Papa John’s ended its official sponsorship deal with the NFL, opting to focus on local partnerships with NFL teams and personalities in those markets.

In March 2019, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal joined Papa John's board of directors and became a spokesman for the brand.

In September 2020, Papa John's announced plans to move its global headquarters to the Atlanta metropolitan area.