Campus Pizza Hut to change menu items
By Aaron Kokoruz
Staff Reporter

Pizza Hut is undergoing an image change that will bring new menu items to campus.
Rick Flores, general manager of Dining Services, said the new menu items at Pizza Hut will include P’zones, which are similar to calzones, and cinnamon bread sticks. There will also be a change to Pizza Hut’s breakfast sandwiches.

“Instead of having the pan crusts on the sandwiches, they’re now going to have fresh biscuits instead,” Flores said.

Meredith Holbert, a senior Spanish and Latin American Studies major, said the new menu items are great because they will be a nice change and bring in more money for both Pizza Hut and Dining Services.

Pizza Hut opened nine years ago at TCU and has had a steady flow in sales ever since, Flores said.

“We were around 700 [pizzas] when Pizza Hut was first there but that has slowly leveled off to 500 to 600 pizzas a day,” Flores said.

The decline in sales could be contributed to the fact that now there are 10 places to eat on campus, as opposed to just five a few years ago, Flores said.

In addition to menu changes and additions, Pizza Hut will also be installing a newly designed storefront sign to replace the current one, Flores said.

Flores said these changes will be made soon but no exact date has been finalized yet.
“Pizza Hut is going through a re-imaging process,” said Flores. “Pizza Hut is one of the few companies that will actually change their menu on a regular basis and a lot of places don’t.”

Pizza Hut’s willingness to change and work on new menu items is crucial to its success at TCU, Flores said.

The same exact menu will gradually wear itself out and no longer make any money, he said.

“We learned our lesson a few years back with Taco Bell,” Flores said. “The menu didn’t change and gradually it leveled and then it really died.”

Bryan Baeten, a junior international economics major, said if Pizza Hut doesn’t make any changes to its menu, it should be replaced because he doesn’t like the pizza, in general, and would like more options.

The amount of time a franchise stays at a particular college depends on the menu variety and size of the student body, Flores said.

Smaller schools, such as TCU, can usually only support one or two brands at a time, Flores said. At TCU, those are Pizza Hut and Freshens Yogurt, he said.

“Pizza Hut can and will survive at TCU for the coming years,” Flores said. “They’re very active in what they do and the product is good.”