A chain restaurant with locations in Brown County is closing stores in 2026.
Pizza Hut is set to close 250 “underperforming” locations in the United States during the first half of 2026, as its parent company, Yum! Brands, Inc., continues a strategic review of the struggling brand. This announcement came during a Feb. 4 Yum! Brands earnings call.
Chief Financial Officer Ranjith Roy explained that the closures are part of “Hut Forward,” a strategy that includes “vibrant marketing, modernization of technology, and franchise agreements.”
“The 250 stores that we mentioned is a very small portion of the 20,000-unit estate that Pizza Hut has globally,” Roy said during the earnings call. “And it is the right answer for the brand as we move through the strategic review.”
The closure announcement comes as Pizza Hut’s store sales in the United States declined by 3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, while other Yum! Brands’ restaurants, like Taco Bell, saw sales increases of 7% during the same quarter.
“While we don’t share specific details of franchise agreements, we are pleased to be working in partnership with our franchisees on increased efforts to deliver near-term sales while advancing long-term strategy,” Yum! Brands told Restaurant Business Online in an emailed statement.
Are Brown County locations closing?
Yum! Brands, Inc. has not released a list of stores that will be closed. In the Brown County area there are five Pizza Hut restaurants:
- 2128 University Ave. in Green Bay
- 859 Lombardi Ave. in Green Bay
- 2015 Lime Kiln Road, Suite 120, in Bellevue
- 11888 Velp Ave. in Suamico
- 1001 Cormier Road in Ashwaubenon
Other restaurant closures
Although 2026 is only a month in, multiple fast-food and fast-casual chain restaurants across the United States have announced plans to downsize, with some stating they intend to focus resources on their stronger-performing stores.
Among the restaurants that have announced closures are Noodles & Company, Red Robin and Wendy’s.
Noodles & Company, in a Jan. 12 news release, said it would be closing 30 to 35 stores in 2026. Wendy’s said in January that it is continuing to evaluate underperforming restaurants that could close this year.
Noodles & Company has three locations in the Green Bay area:
- 2450 E. Mason St. in Green Bay
- 2665 S Oneida St. in Ashwaubenon
- 2485 Lineville Road, Suite 101, in Howard
USA TODAY’s Fernando Cervantes Jr., Saleen Martin and Mike Snider contributed to this report.
Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach him at [email protected] or view his X profile at @Ariel_Perez85.
