The parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken is telling 100 of its U.S. corporate office workers to relocate from Kentucky to Texas in a move meant to bring "more of our people together on a consistent basis" and to "maximize culture."
Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and others, is moving the KFC corporate employees to Plano, Texas, where it already has KFC and Pizza Hut global teams at 7100 Corporate Drive in a suburb about 19 miles north of downtown Dallas.
In addition to relocating KFC office employees from Louisville, Kentucky, to Texas, the company also told about 90 of its remote workers to "move to the campus where their work happens" in the next year-and-a-half.
“Ultimately, bringing more of our people together on a consistent basis will maximize our unrivaled culture and talent as a competitive advantage," Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs, who is based in the Dallas area, said in a statement. "I’m confident this is another important step in growing our iconic restaurant brands globally.
The moves, unveiled Tuesday, are part of Yum Brands' plan to have two headquarters in the United States, with one site in Plano and the other in Irvine, California, where Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill are based. Yum Brands declined to immediately disclose additional information about the moves.
Yum Brands and the KFC Foundation are keeping corporate offices in Louisville.
Even as KFC moves its corporate hub to Texas, Yum Brands plans to "commemorate its deep-rooted history in Kentucky," with a $1 million endowment to the College of Business at the University of Louisville to fund Yum-sponsored scholarships for students throughout Kentucky. The brand will also continue its Louisville presence by building a so-called "first-of-its-kind flagship restaurant." Details on the flagship restaurant were not immediately available Tuesday.
Yum Brands, based in Louisville, and its subsidiaries franchise or operate more than 61,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories.