The Liberty Daily 
(The Epoch Times)—Papa John’s, a global restaurant chain known for its freshly made pizzas, recently announced its plans to close nearly 300 restaurants throughout North America between this year and 2027.
During a fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call on Feb. 26, the international eatery said it had already identified its underperforming stores targeted for closure.
Ravi Thanawala, Papa John’s North America chief financial officer and president, said that most of the restaurants slated for closure are franchise-owned and have been operating at a negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).
“We believe these closures will further strengthen the system. This is the same strategy we successfully deployed during my tenure managing our international business,” Thanawala said.
“Similarly, select strategic closures will allow our North American franchisees to redirect resources towards operational excellence and improve franchisee health by allowing franchisees to reallocate resources in their remaining restaurants and open units in priority markets.”
As a result, the company expects to eliminate about 7 percent of its workforce, with restructuring costs ranging from $16 million to $23 million through 2027.
The company reported total consolidated revenue of $498 million during the fourth quarter—a year-over-year decrease of 6 percent due to lower domestic company-owned stores. While international sales were up by 6 percent—and 7 percent in the United Kingdom—North America’s sales were down by 5 percent.
For the full year of fiscal 2025 ending on Dec. 28, Papa John’s reported global system-wide sales of $4.92 billion—a 1 percent increase compared with 2024. North America’s sales declined by 2 percent, with domestic company-owned restaurants down by 3 percent and franchised eateries down by 2 percent. Total revenues of $2.1 billion remained flat compared with 2024, and net income was $32 million, compared with $84 million the previous year.
During 2025, the company opened a total of 279 new restaurants—96 in North America and 183 in global markets.
In November 2025, 85 of its restaurants were re-franchised, and 29 more are pending for the second quarter of 2026. Company-owned restaurants are projected to be a much smaller percentage of the North American network.
Thanawala indicated that the company plans to invest in long-term restaurant development incentives to increase profitability. This will include accelerating growth in its highest priority markets and improving the restaurant menu.
Based on feedback from customers and franchisees, Papa John’s had decided to eliminate Papadias and Papa Bites from the North America menu during the second quarter. However, promotions such as the 50-percent-off carryout deal, $9.99 “create your own pizza,” and Papa Pairings will remain.
In addition to its core pizza selections, the chain is also testing oven-toasted sandwiches in selected North American markets and will soon begin testing them in certain international markets.
Papa John’s CEO Todd Penegor said the firm also plans to invest $21 million in supplemental marketing in 2026, concentrating on the restaurant’s “better ingredients, better pizza” slogan.
“We saw strength in our loyalty customers and existing customers in North America. However, new customer acquisition was lower than last year,” Penegor said during the earnings call.
“As we look to 2026, we are positioning the business to win in a category that has staying power and growth opportunities.”
Founded in 1982, Papa John’s International, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta and Louisville, Kentucky. The restaurant chain is noted for making its own dough comprised of just six fresh ingredients, and topping its pizza with home-made pizza sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes and real mozzarella cheese.
It was also the first pizza chain to remove artificial flavors and synthetic colors from its menu. The company currently operates more than 6,000 restaurants in 50 countries. It employs over 104,000 people worldwide.
