Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post Reply
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by Brian Lutz »

https://thetakeout.com/pizza-hut-resusc ... 1835730596
https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/pizza ... izza-brand

Pizza Hut is reverting back to the classic red roof logo that they used back in the 80s. I actually think this is a good move for them, as their current branding is rather generic and doesn't really do anything to distinguish them from their competitors like Dominos or Papa John's. It seems like some parts of the country still have decent numbers of old style dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants, but around here they've basically retreated to the strip malls with take-out and delivery only locations (although occasionally a strip mall location will include some dine-in seating.) I seriously doubt they would ever go back to the red roof restaurants and lunch buffets, but there seems to be some demand for it.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by Super S »

Where I live, Pizza Hut has one location, which is one of the old dine-in buildings, and has been open a long time. I think they offer delivery, but I have never used their delivery service. A few years back, they removed the classic signage, and removed the Pizza Hut words from the roof. The only sign now is the road sign, with a more modern logo (which looks terrible to me), but I think they should have stuck with the previous logo that they are returning to.

However, many towns have closed these old locations and are pretty much delivery/pick-up only at this point.

While I like the design of the classic Pizza Hut buildings, their pizza has never really stood out as anything special. And their prices seem to be on the higher end for a chain. I rarely eat their pizza as there are several local pizza shops which have really good pizza, and at the other end you have chains such as Little Caesars which have better (to me anyway)low-priced pizza.

Worth noting is that Domino's is including indoor seating at their newest locations. There are two new Domino's locations near me, one of which is a former restaurant, and the other which is a new-build, both of which have inside seating. However, Little Caesars, which once had many dine-in locations, is still focused on the take-out market with the exception of the few locations they might still operate in Kmart locations that are still holding on.
jamcool
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1019
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
Been thanked: 50 times
Status: Offline

Re: Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by jamcool »

They were planning a few years ago to rebrand themselves as “The HUT”...apparently cooler heads prevailed. Who else should bring back their classic logos?
cjd
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 624
Joined: August 18th, 2018, 6:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Status: Offline

Re: Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by cjd »

All of the Pizza Huts in my county are still in the classic red brick buildings and have buffets and salad bars. This may because I ate it often when I was younger, but I've always preferred Pizza Hut to Domino's and Little Caesar's.

I do remember the Little Caesar's Pizza station at Kmart. I think later they just rebranded as K Cafe, and the Cafe here had closed about 5 years prior to the store closure itself.

Back on topic, I like going for the Pizza Hut lunch buffet but the one here seems to run on a very slim staff with only one waitress (possibly someone else handling the money at the counter) and one cook (maybe somebody else in the back.) But surely no more than four people working during the lunch rush. This means the waitress is overworked handling everyone's orders and being it's a pizza buffet there aren't really any extra pizza, sticks or pasta on hand to replenish the buffet. So it's full for about 10 minutes then you gotta wait until everything is finished baking again.

Cici's Pizza seems more equipped to keep the buffet filled up and I find they have a larger selection and lower prices. I just wish we had one here! And I do like Cici's better than most of the delivery pizza places.

I did notice a location in another town has recently moved to a new strip mall. It does appear to have some inside seating but not nearly as large as the older location.
Knight
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 509
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 8:48 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times
Status: Offline

Re: Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by Knight »

If Pizza Hut can eliminate its delivery/carryout problem and improve its remaining restaurants, it could make a serious attempt in returning to relevancy. If it continues on its current path of underachieving, I do not see it being in business in five years.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Pizza Hut bringing back 80s branding

Post by Super S »

jamcool wrote: June 22nd, 2019, 11:38 am They were planning a few years ago to rebrand themselves as “The HUT”...apparently cooler heads prevailed. Who else should bring back their classic logos?
There is a commercial airing right now which has the old logo but still has the slogan "nobody out-pizzas the hut" so I hope they aren't reconsidering that idea...
Post Reply