PIZZA HUT Beilun Mingzhou Store - 必胜客北仑明州店

Pizza Hut Beilun Mingzhou Store known as 必胜客北仑明州店 (Bìshèngkè Běilún Míngzhōu Diàn) is a casual dining restaurant located at the crossing of Xinda road and Mingzhou road, opposite to China Post Xinqi and next to KFC Beilun Mingzhou store.

Back in 2008, Pizza Hut Mingzhou Store was the first Western family style restaurant to open in Beilun. Place became rapidly popular and is usually packed during weekends and holidays.

Although mainly known for its specialty pizzas, pasta and wing choices, the menu also includes some salads, rice dishes, soups and deserts.

Pizza Hut in China is quite different from its counterpart in the US. Targeting on China’s growing middle class, main customers are families and working couples on a date.

Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas. When a friend suggested opening a pizza parlor, they agreed that the idea could prove successful, and they borrowed $600 from their mother to start a business with partner John Bender.

Dan and Frank Carney purchased used equipment and opened their first pizzeria on May 31, 1958. It was named Pizza Hut because they wanted the word “pizza” in the title and there were only three spaces left after pizza in the sign. Dan’s wife Beverly thought the building looked like a hut, and that was it.

The Carneys incorporated and started franchising right away (PH #2 opened in 1959), with what was then a unique model – franchising territories instead of individual stores. Soon the company had a large network of franchisees and most of them owned multiple locations in their areas.

By 1964 the Carneys had developed a branding for the Pizza Huts, establishing the familiar huts with red roofs that we know today. In 1971 Pizza Hut became the #1 pizza chain in the world, both in sales and number of units. By 1977 Pizza Hut was 3,400 domestic and international stores strong, and that caught the interest of PepsiCo. In 1977, the soda giant placed the largest carryout order in history, buying the pizza powerhouse for $300 million.

In 2011, Pizza Hut, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is still the world’s largest pizza restaurant company with more than 7,500 outlets in the United States and over 5,600 outlets in 97 countries and territories around the world. Pizza Hut is today a restaurant chain and international franchise, a division of  Yum! Brands, Inc. (who also operates KFC). Based in Louisville, Kentucky, YUM! Brands, Inc. is the world’s largest fast food company with 35,000 restaurants in over 110 countries.

In China, Pizza Hut opened their first restaurant in Beijing (Dongzhimenwai street) in Sept. 1990. Nowadays, Pizza Hut in China represents 560 restaurants in 130 cities. (Dec. 2011)

♦ For even more details about the company, check Pizza Hut, Inc.