UNITING THE GENERATIONS

Many Australians have fond childhood memories of Pizza Hut, and in its latest store design the fastfood chain has kept some familiar elements while presenting a fresh image that keeps it relevant.

Pizza Hut has unveiled a new look that harnesses tradition and currency.

Apizza brand that has been part of the Australian fast-food landscape for generations has taken on a fresh look to take it into the future. While the interiors of its restaurant have retro touches to reflect Pizza Hut’s American heritage, overall the feel is Australian contemporary.

Features include an open kitchen, indoor, outdoor and bar dining spaces, and a digital jukebox.

As well as the chain’s new-look interior design, the Waterloo location in Sydney will be the brand’s Centre of Restaurant Excellence, an innovation lab to test and prove concepts before they are rolled out in select stores around Australia.

Pizza Hut Australia innovation director Matthew Sawyer says the new business model has a “glocal” philosophy: globally relevant with adaptations to suit the local community.

“Our new store’s food will be created specially to please the residents in the area. In other locations, we will tailor certain menu items in the same way. This reflects our approach of fusing global and local for our brand.

“We are fundamentally a people business with strong long-term relationships with our suppliers as well as internal and external customers. It is these relationships that have secured our success,” Sawyer says.

FAMILIAR FACE

The launch of the Waterloo store also reveals a familiar face re-imagined: original Pizza Hut icon “Pizza Pete” has been re-introduced into the signage and internal designs.

“We didn’t want to forget our heritage in this rebrand,” says Sawyer. “So many Australian adults have fond memories of the Pizza Hut restaurants where, as a child, the experience was magical. We need to maintain our links to that time – but with an update to be relevant to a new audience.”

Some crowd-pleasers from the old

Pizza Hut days feature in the concept store, albeit with a modern twist. These include free-flowing ice cream, unlimited pizza on certain days, dine-in, take-away and delivery (via electric bike) options, an express lunch menu and a licensed bar area.

“This restaurant combines the things Australians have always loved about Pizza Hut with our vibrant, modern casual-dining culture. It will also allow us to respond quickly to our customers’ changing demands. This is the future of Pizza Hut,” says Sawyer.