Pizza Hut of North America Inc history

In 1962, the Carney brothers bought out the interest held by Bender, and Robert Chisholm joined the company as treasurer.

By 1966, a year after their first television commercial aired, their first home office was built in Wichita to handle the pizza of a chain that had grown to over 145 Pizza Hut restaurants.

The Carneys developed the International Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association (IPHFHA) in 1968 in an effort to buy back 40 percent of the Pizza Hut franchises.

In early 1970 Frank Carney decided that the company practice of relying on statistics from its annual report to inform its business strategy was inadequate, and that a more developed, long-term business plan was necessary.

In 1971 Pizza Hut became the world's largest pizza chain, according to sales and number of restaurants--then just more than 1,000 in all.

He decided to take the company public by selling 410,000 shares in 1972.

In 1973 Pizza Hut expanded further by opening outlets in Japan and Great Britain.

In 1977 Pizza Hut merged with PepsiCo, becoming a division of the global soft drink and food conglomerate.

To raise its profile, Pizza Hut introduced "Pan Pizza" in 1980 throughout its network.

The aim was to make a quick, affordable pizza the ideal lunchtime meal. For example, in 1983 Pizza Hut introduced "Personal Pan Pizza," offering customers a five-minute guarantee that their single-serving pizzas would arrive quickly and steaming hot.

In 1984 Steven Reinemund was appointed president and chief executive officer of Pizza Hut.

In 1986 Pizza Hut opened its 5,000th franchise unit, in Dallas, Texas, and began its successful home delivery service.

Another addition to the chain's menu was "Hand-Tossed Traditional Pizza," which would be introduced in 1988.

In 1990 Pizza Hut opened its first restaurant in Moscow.

Company sales at the pizza chain were up ten percent worldwide to $5.3 billion in 1991 as growing health awareness and the popularity of vegetarian lifestyles had prompted many people to reconsider pizza as a nutritious alternative to greasy fast food fare.

In 1992, the Book It! program involved more than 17 million students in North America alone, and Pizza Hut received letters of endorsement that year from President George Bush and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.

In 1994 several changes resulted in the company's first decline in operating profits in 15 years.

Some indicators were promising: market share rose from 25.6 to 27 percent; 1995 sales increased 16 percent to $5.2 billion; and operating income rose to $414 million, up 40 percent from the year before.

Although Pizza Hut held on to the lead in the industry, competitor Papa John's International experienced the greatest financial growth in 1996, according to Amy Zuber in Nation's Restaurant News.

mcmillin, molly. "pizza hut founder has come full circle." knight-ridder/tribune business news, 6 may 1997.

Fighting back, Pizza Hut lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in March 1998, complaining that Papa John's broadcast advertising was misleading.

In 2014, Pizza Hut had a rebrand to increase their sales which have dropped in the previous two years.