KFC headquarters to move out of Kentucky
The corporate offices of KFC are leaving the state where the quick-serve chain was founded some 95 years ago.
The company's corporate headquarters and about 100 employees are moving to Plano, Texas from Louisville, Ky. The move was announced by parent company Yum! Brands, whose brand portfolio also includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and the Habit Burger and Grill.
Yum! said it plans to designate two brand headquarters in the U.S. — one in Plano and the other in Irvine, Calif. — in a move designed to foster “greater collaboration among brands and employees.” (Pizza Hut is already based in Plano, and Taco Bell and Habit Burger and Grill are based in Irvine.)
"These changes position us for sustainable growth and will help us better serve our customers, employees, franchisees and shareholders,” said David Gibbs, CEO of Yum! Brands. “Ultimately, bringing more of our people together on a consistent basis will maximize our unrivaled culture and talent as a competitive advantage.”
Yum! Brands and the KFC Foundation will maintain corporate offices in Louisville. Also, KFC will continue its brand presence in Louisville with the ambition of building a first-of-its-kind flagship restaurant.
The relocation of approximately 100 KFC U.S. corporate roles will occur over the next six months. Yum! also said that it wants its U.S.-based remote employees to return to the office where their work is based, and that it expected the process to take 18 months
Harland Sanders, known as “Colonel Sanders,” started selling chicken from a motel in 1930 in a small town in Kentucky. KFC’s secret chicken recipe was established in 1939, and Sanders began wearing his trademark white suit in 1950. When he died in 1980, Sanders laid in state inside the capitol in Louisville.
Currently, there are more than 30,000 KFC restaurants worldwide.
To commemorate its deep-rooted history in Kentucky, Yum! said it is strengthening its commitment to advancing higher education locally by providing a $1 million endowment to the College of Business at the University of Louisville to fund Yum!-sponsored scholarships for students throughout Kentucky and further support the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence.
