Transcript:
Conway Gittens: If you take the K out of KFC will it still be finger lickin’ good? Yum Brands, the parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken announced it is moving the chicken chain’s headquarters from Kentucky to Texas.
The move is part of a broader corporate strategy to simplify, locating all of Yum Brands’ company headquarters in just two states: California and Texas. KFC’s global operations are already headed out of Plano, Texas along with Pizza Hut. Other Yum Brands’ properties such as Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill are headed up in Irvine, California.
As a result of the relocation, impacted KFC employees have six months to move to their new city. In addition to that, Yum Brands is requiring remote workers across all brands to return to the office.
Watch ICYMI This Week:
- Tariffs likely won't lead to higher prices, top economist says
- DeepSeek selloff was more about Nvidia stock than AI
- Tim Cook surprises Apple lovers with February product launch
- Expert offers surprising take on Trump's crypto push
Yum Brands is not alone … Many companies have come to the conclusion that less office space is now required, even as many want to call workers back to the office. Meanwhile, Yum joins a small number of companies deciding to move to states with lower tax burdens and what are perceived as more business-friendly policies.
According to a 2024 report by real estate firm CBRE, from 2018 to 2023, 28 Fortune 500 companies made such a move. But KFC isn’t totally walking away from its home state. It plans to build a new flagship restaurant in Kentucky in order to pay homage to its legacy.
Turning to market action on Wednesday, the S&P 500 is coming off a fresh record high set the day before. New home construction projects tumbled 10 percent at the start of the year, reversing a surge in December. Meanwhile, Toll Brothers missed quarterly sales and profit forecasts and gave a disappointing outlook. The stock traded lower.
That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
Related: KFC makes major store change that will delight Gen Z
