1958, Frank? Carney and Dan? The Carney brothers founded Pizza Hut in Kansas. At that time, 19-year-old Frank was still a student at Wichita State University. In the evening and on weekends, he will go to the grocery store opened by his parents with his brother to help.
There is a pub next to this grocery store. During a chat one day, the owner of the pub encouraged the Carney brothers to open a pizza shop there. This proposal changed the lives of the Carney brothers.
Soon, the two brothers borrowed $600 from their mother, bought some second-hand equipment and started their pizza business near the family-owned Carney market.
At that time, the pizza place was very small, with only 25 seats. The original signboard area can only accommodate 9 English letters. Write? Pizza? After pizza, there are only four English letters left. A relative at home stood at the door of the shop and watched for a long time. He casually said:? The dining room looks like a hut. ? In this way, it was born? Pizza hut? The red roof became. Pizza hut? Brand identity.
Subsequently, 1959, Pizza Hut formally established a company in Kansas, and opened the first restaurant to join Pizza Hut in Topeka.
Like other chain restaurants, the Carney brothers also realized that the franchise model can help Pizza Hut develop rapidly. So the next year, they opened a franchise license. Franchisees are allowed to use Pizza Hut registered trademarks and secret product recipes, and at the same time get management assistance from Carney Brothers.
Pizza Hut really began to transform into a commercial chain from1970s.
At that time, Pizza Hut was rapidly expanding in the United States, and went out of the North American market to open stores in global markets such as Germany and Australia. By 197 1, it has reached the scale of 1000 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
But Frank realized that this barbaric expansion could not last long. We began to realize that the management of each branch was a little out of control. We must find a planned large-scale operation mode. ? Frank said.
From 65438 to 0972, Pizza Hut began to carry out corporate reform. On the one hand, reform the company's financial management and human resources management, and clarify the profit and sales targets; On the other hand, it began to invest more budget for global expansion and advertising marketing, which is also the only way for the scale of catering chain now.
From 1972 to 1974, Pizza Hut's local marketing investment in the United States increased from $940,000 to $3 170, and it began to promote the Pizza Hut brand worldwide. In terms of regional expansion, Pizza Hut began to invest more budget in more regional markets. By the end of 1970s, Pizza Hut had more than 65,438+000 stores outside the United States and entered more markets such as Japan and Britain.
Another reason for Pizza Hut's success is its accurate positioning. Frank regards Pizza Hut's main customers as family, but regards Pizza Hut as? Restaurant? Not fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonald's.
The difference is that Pizza Hut creates a feeling of sitting down and eating a decent meal, so the unit price is higher than that of chain fast food restaurants; Although this will reduce the turnover rate, the expanding scale and higher customer unit price will bring them rich profit returns.
This model is also favored by big companies. 1977 Pizza Hut was acquired by PepsiCo and became a subsidiary of this consumer giant. 1988, when Frank and his brother celebrated the 30th anniversary of Pizza Hut, they founded more than 6,000 chain stores all over the world.
Carney once said that work is a kind of vitality, an indispensable vitality. ? Carney's former work partner Ken? Ken Miller commented on Carney? All he thinks about from waking up in the morning to going to bed at night is doing business. ? Miller said that Carney doesn't have a great sense of humor, and he keeps learning and works directly? Cut the crap, give me the facts and get things done. ?
After Carney's death, a Pizza Hut spokesman replied to CBS News. Anyone who can have a good impression on the red roof and delicious pizza of Pizza Hut can feel Carney's entrepreneurial spirit and be deeply influenced by it. In the past few decades, Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States and even around the world have become places for people to meet, and these restaurants will also become Carney's legacy. Through these restaurants, their spirit will spread in cities and regions of all sizes. ?