what was the first pizza chain in the us
History of pizza Chain restaurants sprang up with pizza's popularity rising. Leading early pizza chains were Shakey's Pizza, founded in 1954 in Sacramento, California; Pizza Hut, founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas; and Josey's Pizza founded in Newnan, Georgia, in 1943. Later entrant restaurant chains to the dine-in pizza market were Bertucci's, Happy Joe's, Monical's Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Godfather's Pizza, and Round Table Pizza.[40]
Papa John's Pizza Franchise owners pay a one-off franchise fee of $25,000 per restaurant, then a royalty fee of 5% of net sales, plus a charge for advertising of 8% of net sales. The company requires franchisees to have net worth of at least $250,000, the approximate amount of investment needed.[16][17] Corporate operations look over franchisees to ensure brand consistency. As of January 2016[update] there were over 4,700 Papa John's restaurants in all 50 U.S. states and in 37 other countries and territories.[1] Papa John's International is a publicly traded company, with 25% of its shares owned by John Schnatter.[18]