Papa Johns closes dozens of locations across 17 states amid industry shakeout

Papa Johns is executing a sweeping contraction of its North American footprint, with financial filings showing 44 store closures in the first quarter of 2026 alone, the opening salvo of a broader restructuring that could eliminate roughly 300 locations by the end of next year.

An analysis of the chain’s financial filings by Fast Company found the closures spread across 17 states, with the heaviest concentration in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona. Multiple additional shutdowns were recorded in Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia.

The company first disclosed the restructuring plan in February, announcing it would close approximately 300 underperforming North American restaurants by end of 2027, with roughly 200 of those closures targeted for 2026. The affected locations are primarily franchise-owned, more than a decade old and generating less than $600,000 in annual sales.

“We believe these closures will further strengthen the system, increasing AUVs by at least 3% and improve franchisee health by allowing franchisees to reallocate resources towards operational excellence in their remaining restaurants and open units in priority markets,” CFO Ravi Thanawala said at the time.

The restructuring extends beyond store closures. Filings showed that Papa Johns also cut approximately 7% of its corporate workforce, part of a broader effort to reduce non-customer-facing overhead. The company said it expects the moves to generate at least $25 million in cost savings through 2027.

Shares of Papa Johns International have not responded well to the turnaround plan. The stock was down roughly 21% year-to-date through Wednesday’s close, and has shed more than 69% of its value over the past five years.

The chain operates around 3,500 restaurants in North America as of the end of 2025, meaning the planned closures would eliminate roughly 9% of its domestic and Canadian locations.

The closures are not happening in isolation. Rival Pizza Hut has announced plans to shutter approximately 250 underperforming U.S. locations in the first half of 2026 as part of its “Hut Forward” turnaround program — a strategy confirmed by a Pizza Hut spokesperson that pairs targeted closures with technology upgrades and marketing support. Parent company Yum! Brands is also reportedly in exclusive talks to sell the Pizza Hut brand to private equity firm LongRange Capital, according to reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg. No deal has been finalized, and neither company has provided official confirmation.

The twin retrenchments reflect deepening headwinds across the pizza category. A Wall Street Journal report from January found that pizzerias, once the second most common restaurant type in the United States, have now been surpassed in number by both coffee shops and Mexican restaurants, a shift underway since the category peaked in 2019. Franchisees across the fast-food industry are also contending with sustained pressure from inflation, labor costs and supply chain expenses.