Up to 400 KFC restaurants across the nation are expected to close over the next 17 months because they won’t comply with a strict remodeling campaign ordered by the chain’s parent company, Louisville-based Yum! Brands Inc.
Most of KFC’s 5,500 domestic stores have been updated under the chain’s re-imaging project. Changes include new awnings, chairs, bucket-shaped lighting and artwork featuring Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders. Richard Schleicher, the area’s largest KFC franchisee, with 54 stores, said he has remodeled all but four of his locations and will finish the rest by mid-2007. He predicted that most of the store closings will happen in places where sales are slow and operators won’t be able to justify the cost of the upgrades.
“People obviously want new, fresh looks,” said Schleicher, based in Sellersburg, Ind. “An old dingy-looking store, you fix it up and your customers appreciate it.”
Franchisees must make the changes or close their restaurants by June 1, 2008. The deadline, which stems from a 1997 legal settlement, comes at a time when Yum is looking for ways to grow its U.S. fast-food businesses, which also include Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
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