Pizza Hut brings back vintage vibes as franchisees embrace nostalgic makeovers
What's old is new again across the country at dozens of Pizza Hut locations that are bringing back the old-school décor of their dining rooms.
The red cups, salad bar, checkerboard tables and Tiffany-style stained-glass lamps customers loved in the 1980s and '90s have returned to 38 of the 93 Pizza Hut franchises the Kansas-based Daland Corporation runs, Inc.com reported.
The retro remodels are called "Pizza Hut Classic." They include promotional materials for the "Book It!" program the chain established in 1984 and still runs to incentivize children to read more by rewarding them with pizza.
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"[The Pizza Hut] brand is kind of iconic to the country," Daland's president, Tim Sparks, told Fox News on "America Reports."
Brothers Dan and Frank Carney founded Pizza Hut in Kansas in 1958 after borrowing $600 from their mother. "They named it Pizza Hut, because their sign only had room for eight letters," the chain's website says.
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Today, there are more than 16,000 Pizza Huts in more than 100 countries. Until recently, only a handful of them retained the classic look.
A lot of families, his own included, enjoyed eating at Pizza Hut when the restaurants had the traditional styling, Sparks said. He added that he hopes the throwback makeovers will bring customers back to the restaurants' dining rooms.
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"It's a good time to start having dinner together," Sparks said.
The reception to the nostalgic renovations has been very positive, according to Sparks. Content from bloggers who have visited a Pizza Hut Classic and posted video and photos has gone viral, he said.
"Everybody gets super excited," Sparks said. "There's a lot of feel-good to it for sure."
A YouTube video reporting on the spread of Pizza Hut Classics drew enthusiastic comments.
"This is actually making me smile. I have been wanting Pizza Hut to return to its former glory for years," wrote one user. "The pizza, salad bar, cups, pasta, lamps, jukebox, everything. A lot of memories."
"It's amazing that designing your restaurant to be warm and inviting actually encourages people to come eat at your restaurant as opposed to the gray corporate slop designed for high turnover," wrote another.
"Everyone's trying to live our childhoods because we were all happier back then," commented someone else.
"If Pizza Hut goes ahead and does this, I will be a regular visitor," read another comment.
Sparks said he hopes people with fond memories of Pizza Hut from their childhoods will bring their kids in to experience the old-fashioned look of the classic restaurants.
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"If it was good for us, it's good for them, right?" he said.
Although pizza from a box is still great, pizza is at its best when it's served fresh from the oven, straight to your table, Sparks said.
