Recently, through a statement, one of the largest pizza and home delivery restaurant chains in the world, Papa John's, announced the closure of at least 44 stores in the coming months in the United States with the purpose of improving its profitability.

The chain founded in 1984 with headquarters in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, is carrying out a plan to close approximately 300 stores by the end of 2027, so the closure of about 40 establishments in 17 states of the country is expected this year, including California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia.

The company that has managed to position itself in the last 42 years in the market as the fourth largest chain in the United States, behind Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and Little Caesars, standing out for its famous motto "Better ingredients, better pizza" reported that the closures are due to a plan to improve the profitability of the restaurants.

In this regard, Ravi Thanawala, chief financial officer and president of Papa John's North America, said that “the vast majority of our restaurants worldwide have performed well over the years and have generated solid returns for both the parent company and franchisees,” he said.

However, Thanawala pointed out that the 300 stores that hope to close, which are mostly franchisees, have not had the expected financial performance, since, although most have been in the market for more than 10 years, their sales are less than $600,000 per store.

Thanawala assured that this was the same strategy that the company successfully implemented during his management at the head of the international business, adding that, in the United Kingdom, Papa John's managed to improve its average sales by 17%.

For his part, President and CEO Todd Penegor commented that “we are working hard to ensure we collaborate closely with our franchisee community and set them up for long-term success,” he said.