Pizza Hut to Close 129 Stores—Illinois Locations Affected

I'm hoping this is just a temporary trend and not the real sign of the end for Pizza Hut. A recent report claims that the chain has plans to close another 129 restaurants soon and that Illinois locations will be a part of that list.

I came across this report that was fact-checked and updated just a couple weeks ago by Finance Buzz. It's a story about 15 Pizza Hut locations in Indiana that just closed, but it's the "oh, by the way" part of that story that got my attention. It says "129 More Could Follow".

Why do they believe that Illinois Pizza Huts will be a part of that 129 more locations to close?

The franchisee that closed the 15 Pizza Huts is EYM Group. They also own Pizza Huts in 5 other states and Illinois is one of them.

There are some important things to take note of with this speculation of more Pizza Huts closing. First, the problems that a franchisee has do not necessarily mean the chain is in trouble. Individual franchise groups can try to grow to quickly and end up in money trouble. That's not a condemnation of Pizza Hut, though. That being said, Pizza Hut has been transparent about the fact that they have been and will continue to close down underperforming locations. This possible list of new closures in Illinois could be a part of that. Time will tell the tale if this once great and beloved pizza place can remain vital moving forward. Since I fondly remember their famous red glasses from my childhood, I sure hope that's the case.