Pizza hut in target – In 2007, Pizza Hut started putting in Target kiosks in their stores where you can buy food. These kiosks became popular. But by the end of 2018, Target’s number of Pizza Hut stores decreased a lot because they needed to make more money. In 2019, Target removed Pizza Hut and slowly offered different food choices. Let me explain what happened…
The Earlier Days (From 2007 to 2009)
Around 2007 and 2008, Pizza Hut in Target started appearing in some Target stores. People in at least one location in Florida liked it. Target has already been successful with having Starbucks inside its stores since 1999. They were adding about 120 Starbucks locations every year until 2002. So, it is unsurprising that when Target opened a big store called Wilson Yard in Chicago in 2010, they included a Starbucks and Pizza Hut Express in the food court. This was a big moment for Pizza Hut in Target, and their partnership grew greatly afterwards.
Expansion and Growth(2010-2018)
From 2010 to 2018, Pizza Hut and Target worked together and became even closer. The people in charge of both companies started working together too. In 2018, Brian Cornell, Target’s CEO, became the Chairman of the Board of Pizza Hut’s parent company, showing that the partnership was getting stronger. By the end of 2018, Target had over 1,100 locations of Pizza Hut in their stores. That is almost as many as the 1,300 Starbucks cafes in Target stores, which happened two years before.
Restructuring and declining(2019-2022)
From 2019 to 2022, Pizza Hut went through a tough time. The rise of online food delivery services like Uber Eats, GrubHub, and DoorDash made it harder for Pizza Hut to attract customers. People started to prefer eating at home or picking up food instead of sitting in a Pizza Hut restaurant. This made it difficult for Pizza Hut’s dine-in locations to make money.
As a result, Pizza Hut had to close down 500 of its restaurants, which was about 8% of all its dine-in locations. They focused more on their Pizza Hut Express locations, which were more minor and mainly for takeout. But it was a challenge because Pizza Hut was known for being a sit-down restaurant for many years. This hurt their reputation and affected sales, including at the location of Pizza Hut in Target stores, which did not offer delivery and were not famous for takeout either.
Target Closure and Remodeling of Pizza Hut in Target Locations
From 2017 to 2021, Target decided to renovate around 950 of the total 1,920 stores and close down many Pizza Hut locations. Some people who loved Pizza Hut got upset about this and complained. In one case, Starbucks was going to take over a whole space in a renovated Target store, but because customers complained, they had to share the area with Pizza Hut instead. Despite some cases like this, many Pizza Hut locations still closed down.
At the same time, a partnership of Target with Starbucks was getting stronger. Shops of Starbucks coffee were in more than 70% of Target stores, and most of the 150 Target stores renovated in 2019 replaced Pizza Hut in Target with Starbucks. Starbucks was seen as having a better reputation and making more money. They also stayed open longer than Pizza Hut, which was only busy during dinner and lunch.
COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Target had to make changes to keep people safe. They reduced their store hours and closed places where people could eat inside, like Target Cafes, Snack Bars, Pizza Hut Restaurants, Starbucks Kiosks, and Beverage Bars. Because of this, many Pizza Hut locations in Target stores closed down.
People were sad about it and even saddened in Jersey City’s Target for Pizza Hut. As the pandemic went on and things started to improve, there were a few reports of some Pizza Hut locations still open in Target stores, but most had already closed two years before.
Pizza Hut Partnership/ Future of the Target
As many Pizza Huts are being removed from Target stores, there are few places to eat inside the superstore. You can get some grab-and-go food at a snack bar, like chips, sodas, popcorn, and some Personal Pan Pizzas from Pizza Hut that you can take home. But just like Pizza Hut, Starbucks is in Target because of an agreement that lets Target use their name and brand. This agreement was supposed to end in 2023, and because Pizza Hut in Target stores was not making much money, it needs to be clarified if the contract will be renewed.
Drive Up System of Target
After the pandemic, Target wanted to make more money, so they created a Drive Up system. It lets customers order things ahead of time and get them delivered to their car at the curb. In February 2022, Target started allowing customers to order Starbucks items through the Drive Up system using the Target app. They let the store know when the customer is on the way so they can make fresh coffee for them. The spaces that used to be Pizza Hut locations are now being used as a place to hold the Drive Up orders. This is the best way to make money from that space.
