Dive Brief:
- KFC’s U.S. headquarters is moving from Kentucky to the KFC and Pizza Hut Global Headquarters in Plano, Texas, parent company Yum Brands announced Tuesday.
- Roughly 100 of the brand’s U.S. corporate employees will relocate over the next six months, while the relocation of about 90 remote workers will take the next 18 months.
- This shift accompanies a broader shakeup in the chicken chain’s leadership. Scott Mezvinsky has been appointed KFC’s CEO effective March 1, and the chain promoted U.S. chief marketing officer Catherine Tan-Gillespie to U.S. president effective April 1.
Dive Insight:
David Gibbs, Yum Brands CEO, framed the move from Kentucky to Texas as a strategic play for the company.
“Bringing more of our people together on a consistent basis will maximize our unrivaled culture and talent as a competitive advantage. I’m confident this is another important step in growing our iconic restaurant brands globally,” Gibbs said.
KFC has struggled to gain sales traction in the U.S. in recent quarters. The brands’ same-store sales fell 5% year-over-year in Q4 2024 according to an earnings release, despite significant value plays last year. By contrast, Popeyes’ same-store sales increased by 0.1% in Q4.
Other major brands have also shifted their headquarters or called staff back to the office in recent years. In 2023, scores of Starbucks’ corporate employees protested the company’s return-to-office policies, and late last year the coffee brand issued an ultimatum to workers who were hesitant to return to in-person work. In early 2023, Subway opened a second global headquarters in Florida in a move the sandwich brand said would improve coordination with franchisees over the company’s supply-chain.
In-N-Out Burger said in February that it would consolidate its two California headquarters by closing its Irvine location and moving all employees to Baldwin Park by the end of 2029. It is also opening an office in Tennessee as part of plans to expand into the East Coast.
Despite the relocation of KFC’s U.S. staff, Yum Brands and the KFC Foundation will maintain a reduced corporate office presence in Louisville, Kentucky. Yum’s other brands, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger are both headquartered in Irvine, California, according to the press release.
Employees required to move as part of this step will receive relocation and transition assistance, Yum said.
